Retail cashiers are the last line of defense but get zero scam training

The single most effective intervention point for gift card scams targeting consumers is the retail cashier at the moment of purchase. AARP found that when a third party intervenes during an in-progress scam, more than half of potential victims avoid losing money. Yet only a fraction of retailers provide any training. AARP found that only 1 in 4 consumers in the process of buying gift cards in a scam had a retail employee warn them -- meaning 75% of the time, the cashier either didn't notice or didn't know what to do. The warning signs are obvious to a trained eye: an elderly or distressed customer buying multiple high-value cards of the same brand while on the phone, reading from scripted instructions, seeming confused about what the cards are for. But cashiers are hourly workers with high turnover, minimal onboarding, and no incentive to slow down transactions. Many retailers have no policy allowing cashiers to refuse or question a gift card purchase, fearing customer complaints. The training gap persists because retailers see scam prevention as a law enforcement issue, not a retail operations issue, even though AARP estimates that widespread adoption of their free 15-minute training course could prevent tens of millions of dollars in annual consumer losses.