Vicki Nevarde of Mission Beach California was very excited about getting a new iPod for Christmas this year. Her husband, Jim, purchased what he thought was a brand new iPod, from their local Target store. However, when Vicki unwrapped the package and then opened up the sealed iPod box holiday joy quickly became bewilderment.

Instead of the brand new silver iPod that Vicki was expecting, her iPod box was filled with erasers and index cards. The erasers were the perfect size to go into the top of the iPod box where the music player would typically be found. The index cards were cut specifically to fit in the bottom of the box. The Nevarde’s believe this was to simulate the weight of an actual iPod box.

The couple returned to a differentTarget store the day after Christmas, one closer to their home. They told the clerk what had happened and the clerk went back to electronics to exchange the iPod, despite the fact that the box was filled with office supplies and purchased at another store.

Now when we first heard about this from Business Insider we were a bit skeptical. Although you want to believe everyone around holiday time, the holidays are ripe for return schemes. There’s nothing but the customers word that the box was actually filled with erasers and not an iPod. A dishonest couple could have taken the eraser laden box back to Target, hoping to take advantage of the retailer at their most vulnerable time, and making off with two iPods.

That’s when the story gets really interesting though. The Nevardes were at a different Target store for the exchange, but just because of what happened at the previous location, Jim had asked the clerk to open the box before they left the store. That box too, was filled with erasers, CBS 8 confirmed.

The Target clerk reported the incident to Target security to look into the rest of the iPods. Target store officials at that store told the Nevardes that it was probably something that occurred at a distribution center, somewhere between Apple and that Target store. The iPod in question was a non Touch model, which is a little bit older and not as in demand.

Apple often direct ships their latest product to retailers without a distributor in the middle, however older products ship to a distribution facility and then to the retail stores.

So far this seems like an isolated incident. The last thing Target needs right now is another big scam.