Walmart Self-Checkout Scam

[Mayhem]

Check your receipts before leaving the store!

I saw on the local news that there is a new scam going on at Walmart where someone will go to self-check out, scan their stuff (usually gift cards - small amount $20 - $30), and then walk away without paying for it. Then they stand elsewhere in the store and wait for someone else to use the register after them.

By this time, the register screen has already timed out, and the next person in line doesn't see anything.

The thief then waits until this person scans their stuff and pays, which now activates the gift cards and makes them a physical item. Now the thief can leave the store with the gift cards, and it won't set the door alarms off.

Apparently this little scam has been very successful, because hardly anyone is going over their receipts until after they get to their vehicle or already at home.

[Squid]

It's getting so that I don't want to go wherever there are people!

[minimarshs]

Self-serve is costing stores much more than it saves in employee costs.  Think of the time and brain power it took to come up with this scheme (for a non-taxable profit of $20 or $30), when they could be out there going for world domination.