In the retail store where I work, we do not need an ID for items returned with a receipt, but we do for items returned without one. Why? Because we have quite a bit of return fraud. There are plenty of people who do not buy an item, but stick in a a bag that they bring to the store. They put the items in the bag and come to the counter telling us they couldn’t find the receipt. We have to give them a store credit, but we need their ID first. I have personally turned in 3 thieves this year who ended up going to jail because of their fraud. Fraud costs my store tens of thousand of dollars each year unnecessarily, and prices keep going up to pay for it.
My favorite fraudulent return stories:
The guy who bought a gas grill, assembled it, turned on the gas with the hood closed, walked away for five minutes, came back and hit the igniter and blew it into shrapnel. (returned it to the store claiming it was “defective”)
And the guy who bought a new TV set and then carefully packed his old one (a 1960’s vintage black-and-white model) back into the same box and returned it for a full refund.
Some years back an old acquaintance bragged about getting brand new Craftsman tools from Sears by exchanging beat-up items he purchased at garage sales.