A Walmart customer has sparked outrage after filming herself shoplifting at a self-checkout – and posting it online.
The woman, who goes by Nesha on TikTok, posted a video of herself pretending to scan items at a self-checkout.
She demonstrated the ‘fake scan’ tactic used by shoplifters at self-checkouts.
The thieves scan some items but not others – hoping staff won’t notice. If they are caught, they pretend it was an accident.
But Nesha gets instant karma after trying to steal a backpack – unaware of new technology Walmart has to catch crooks like her.
A TikTok content creator filmed herself fake-scanning a pink backpack in Walmart
The store worker appeared to laugh after discovering the amount that had been stolen
She is caught by a worker – and given a two year ban from Walmart stores. She may also face police action.
Incredibly, the shameless thief includes the confrontation in the video she posts.
Her TikTok shows how the Walmart worker is able to confirm she didn’t scan items by replaying footage recorded by hidden cameras at the checkout.
The cameras record from several angles, and can detect if an item has been moved across and bagged without being scanned.
If they spot this, they freeze the checkout screen – and alert staff to come and review the footage.
The TIkTok shows the member of staff scanning their card before the machine replays the ‘potential missed scan.’
Nesha then flips the camera to show the reaction of the Walmart worker. The shop assistant appears so shocked by the brazen nature of the theft that she raises her hand to her mouth and laughs in disbelief.
‘Even though she laughed … she called the manager.. police and had us escorted outside,’ Nesha captioned the video.
Many viewers were shocked by the creator’s behavior, with one commenting: ‘I never got people who steal.’
‘Yeah that’s why now we don’t have self checkout. It really makes me mad,’ another wrote, referring to supermarkets rolling back on self-checkouts to crack down on theft.
However, many other users appeared to condone the act and even explained the methods they themselves use to steal.
‘I pretend to be distracted by a phone call as I’m scanning items & I only skip one or two mid priced items (never the most expensive too bait) that way if I get caught I have an excuse,’ one user commented.
‘I did multiple things but only for food I would put a smaller thing like taco seasoning under the meat and scan that instead and bag it or leave stuff in cart and cover it with bags,’ another advised.
‘I didn’t do it this way but them new cameras catch everything now,’ a third added.
Walmart has made renewed efforts to crack down on shoplifting at its self-checkouts by introducing invisible barcodes.
The feature lets shoppers simply move an item over the self-checkout scanner, which will register the item without needing to scan a visible bar code.
Walmart and other grocery giants have brought in measures to crack down on shoplifting
The new technology works on any Walmart Great Value branded items, such as graham crackers, chocolate bars and croissant sandwiches.
The invisible barcodes were first introduced to Walmart branded items in 2019, through the chain’s partnership with Digimarc.
Digimarc Barcode’s are invisible to the naked eye, but are printed all over an item enabling it to be easily picked up by a self-checkout scanner.
Rising theft has become an increasing concern for grocery retailers’ bottom line.
Dollar General and Target as well as Walmart have also made sweeping changes to the automated stations in stores because of theft issues.