What did Alexandre Costa-Mota do? Connecticut man arrested over $300,000 home-depot scam

Alexandre Costa-Mota, 26, has been accused of scamming several Home Depot stores across states of over $300,000. According to the U.S. attorney's office in Providence, he was detained on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy.

Costa-Mota allegedly received about 370 fraudulent store credits from several Home Depot stores between June 2021 and February 2022. It has further been confirmed that Alexandre Costa-Mota has been detained without bail.

News outlets tried to reach out to Costa-Mota's attorney and Home Depot; however, they haven't received a response yet. The stores where the suspect primarily visited were in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. After receiving the store credits, he would redeem them in a different store.

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Alexandre Costa-Mota entered stores dressed like a contractor and would collect doors and return them without receipts

Authorities detained Costa-Mota in connection to the massive Home Depot scam. He reportedly entered the stores, dressed like a contractor and empty-handed. Alexandre Costa-Mota would then load a cart with expensive Anderson doors and head to the store's service department.

Costa-Mota would then request to return the doors without a receipt and get a refund. According to a Secret Service agent investigating the case, he would use fake IDs, including fake driving licenses, to clear the store's security checks. According to Home Depot's official website,

"We require a valid driver’s license or government-issued photo identification for non-receipted returns and returns generated from purchases made with store credits."

"The Home Depot uses a third-party refund verification system. All returns are subject to verification system approval," it added.

At times, Alexandre Costa-Mota would leave the stores with the doors and return later for a refund. When certain stores refused to furnish the return due to an absence of a receipt, he would go to a separate store for the receipt-less return.

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Costa-Mota is currently being detained without bail

After continuing this scheme for about a year, he had collected around 370 store credits that could be valued at almost $297,332. Prosecutors further claimed that some of the doors he stored were priced at about $350 to $400. It was also revealed that Home Depot sells Anderson doors which are sometimes priced at rates as high as $1,000.

Along with the places mentioned before, the suspect would also visit Home Depot stores in Maine, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. Surveillance footage also captured Alexandre Costa-Mota wearing the same gold watch and shoes in every store he visited.

On July 26, 2023, Costa-Mota was finally indicted and charged with wire fraud and conspiracy. On August 1, 2023, his arraignment took place before a United States Magistrate Judge. Assistant United States Attorney Dulce Donovan is prosecuting the case.

The press release on August 2, 2023, by the United States Attorney's Office from the District of Rhode Island, has also mentioned that the federal charges are merely accusations, and the suspect is innocent until proven guilty.