Cops: Woman charged in Target return scam

A woman who was scamming Target by buying items such as video games at one store for cash, emptying the boxes, refilling them with paper to approximate the weight of the removed items, then returning them to a different store for a refund, was arrested Thursday at a Target in Farmingdale as she attempted to return an Xbox 360, police said.

Nassau County police said Ebony Washington, 29, of 155 Lawrence Ave. in Inwood, was charged with third-degree grand larceny and petty larceny. She was scheduled for arraignment Friday in First District Court in Hempstead.

Washington was arrested Thursday after police said she entered the Target in Farmingdale, bought an Xbox 360 system for cash at about 2:30 p.m., then tried to make a return on it 23 minutes later.

A store employee checking the contents found paper instead. Police were called and Washington was arrested.

Police said Washington "engaged in an ongoing scheme of conducting fraudulent returns throughout numerous Target stores in Nassau County." It was not immediately clear which stores were targeted.