Police say a return flagged at Target led to felony charges and a broader warning to stores during the year’s busiest exchange season.
NEWNAN, Ga. — A flagged return at a Newnan Target ended in the arrest of a Carrollton couple this week, and police used the case to warn retailers that refund fraud tends to climb during the holidays as busy counters and long lines can mask elaborate receipt schemes.
Authorities identified the suspects as Whitney Marie Adams, 45, and Jonathan Quinton Adams, 47, both from Carroll County. Investigators said they recovered multiple bags of receipts from several chains, along with a portable receipt printer, after store staff escalated a suspicious transaction to police. The pair faces multiple felony counts tied to theft and fraud. The incident underscores how return desks become targets for organized shoplifting and refund attempts between late December and early January, when stores process high volumes of exchanges and cash-back requests. Detectives are now reviewing the paper trail and device data to assess the scope of the attempted scheme and to determine whether additional stores were affected.
According to police, receipt fraud often starts with a simple premise: present a receipt that appears valid, locate the matching items on the shelves, and attempt a return for cash or credit without ever buying the merchandise. Officers said the Newnan case followed that pattern and that the seized items suggest repeated attempts across multiple retailers. Police called the approach a “receipt scam,” and said the warning this time of year is straightforward: staff attention and transaction checks are essential when counters are backed up. In this incident, a staff review of barcodes and return histories prompted the call to police, who detained the couple in the parking lot and searched a vehicle tied to the transaction.
Investigators said bags of receipts found in the car spanned large retail chains and recent dates, a sign the same paperwork may have been used as a guide to pull items for later returns. Officers also noted the presence of a portable Target receipt printer, which will be examined as evidence. Officials did not immediately provide a total dollar amount for attempted refunds or list each store involved, citing the ongoing review of documents. Police added that Whitney Adams had prior retail experience, which staff recognized, prompting the more cautious review of the return. Detectives are comparing SKU numbers from receipts to inventory movements and checking parking lot camera footage for travel patterns between area shopping centers.
Retailers typically route these cases to in-house loss-prevention teams first, then to local police once a pattern or attempted fraud appears, investigators said. In Newnan, officers responded as the store worked through a busy afternoon of exchanges. The pair was taken into custody without incident, and officers spent part of the evening logging paper evidence before transporting it for cataloging. Multiple felony charges were filed, with the possibility of additional counts if more affected dates or stores are confirmed. Prosecutors in Coweta County will review the case file for charging decisions and set a timeline for the next court hearing once the initial paperwork is complete.
Shoppers described longer-than-usual waits at the customer service counter as managers paused transactions to recheck barcodes and return histories. A customer in the electronics line said the review “took a while, but you could tell staff were being careful.” A floor associate who had just finished a shift said the episode reinforced why teams slow down when something “doesn’t look right,” even with a line stretching around the queue. By dusk, the returns desk had reopened all stations while officers finished documenting items that appeared to match receipt entries gathered from the car.
Police said additional information, including any broader loss estimate and a full list of involved retailers, will be released after the receipts and the printer memory are reviewed. Detectives expect to share the initial findings with regional partners early next week as stores continue peak-season returns.
Author note: Last updated December 21, 2025.