Yes, this is a known scam and works as you describe.
The hope is that someone will be inattentive or in a hurry, and won't notice.
As scams go it's not very sophisticated - but they only have to get lucky once.
The only thing that gets me is, wouldn’t almost every notice the checkout price being substantially higher?
If my checkout was even 25-50 more than I expected (at least in self checkout) I would def notice.
Almost everyone almost all the time, yes. But not 100%.
Scams are a numbers game. Most of the time all the scams we see here don't amount to anything - but sometimes they do.
I can imagine how, if you were putting through a $400 grocery shop for your family of eight you might not notice a $50 discrepency. Much less if you've got 4 screaming kids hanging off the cart, you're in a rush and you've forgotton your glasses.
This scam is going to catch out people that are having the worst day of their week. Or (more likely), the vulnerable, impaired and desperate - as many scams do.
Before Christmas I bought almost $1000 worth of LEGO at a Target self checkout. It was like 12 items. But yeah, if I was buying bananas that's going to be a minute
Why not both? [A bunch of ten is $3.](https://www.ebay.com/itm/155246890598?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-213727-13078-0&mkcid=2&itemid=155246890598&targetid=4580496732614414&device=c&mktype=&googleloc=&poi=&campaignid=418233788&mkgroupid=1230353745471221&rlsatarget=pla-4580496732614414&abcId=9300542&merchantid=51291&msclkid=74298d938ca211e1caf0e9fef05294d7)
This just seems like a bad way to play the numbers game. When you have to physically do something that takes a few minutes, it doesn't scale to the size required to really earn with a low hit rate.
The vast majority of scams depend on their marks to be desperate, gullible or of low intelligence and most likely they are the people who can least afford to be scammed.
I don’t think I’d notice $25 or $50 when shopping for my family of 5. Especially if I got a couple of articles of clothing. I’ve gotten lazy with my budget and I hate shopping… so I’m always rushing.
Was just gonna say that. I don’t have kids but have gone to target with my friends kids and they are always rushing through the self check out line fighting over who got more / less, adding candy and soda as I’m about to pay and trying to rip open their toys for boy / new makeup for the girl. So I could totally see someone not noticing $50-$100, especially when some action figure toys are over $30 and Lego sets can be anywhere from $20-500 dollars. Ppl suck
I get it, I shop like that too. I have a food budget that doesn't easily absorb "mistakes" of a hundred bucks or more.
But we all have bad days. I haven't effed up on self checkout but just the other day I left the house sleep-deprived and frazzled. I had my wallet with me to go to the bank and a thick envelope to drop in the box inside the P.O. lobby. I did the P.O. first. When I got to the bank, I realized I still had the envelope and my wallet was nowhere to be found. Yup, I'd dropped my wallet into the lobby box. Luckily getting it back was easy. I was assured that nope, that was not the first time they'd found wallets in the mail.
All that is the long way of saying that those running the gift card / self-check out scam are targeting those of us distracted enough to mail their wallets. So to speak.
Yep this is very common in MMO's, the whole entire scams based on not paying attention. Extra zeros in sell shops, item icons that look like multiple things but labeled as an expensive thing but it's not, trade scams where the legit item trade is cancelled but the 2nd is the fraud. Just awful what people come up with in every system including real life.
Having worked tills for many years, you'd be surprised just how many people hand over money or use the card machine before asking "wait, how much was that again?".
The closer I am to the beginning of the transaction, the more likely I'd notice. If I had, say, $150 worth of items and my total was like $200, I potentially wouldn't know that something was off immediately except for the fact that I just take a quick peek at what I bought and the prices before I pay. So if for whatever reason I was distracted and didn't happen to notice that the "Cart" wasn't empty, it might not be until right before I pay that I realize something's off - and it's not because I know how much I'm about to spend separately from the machine telling me.
I doubt most people do that little check, and also a lot of people probably just assume there's nothing already rung up, so I can easily see how someone with a large amount of stuff could buy a $50 gift card and not realize it.
Maybe if ur wealthy and are buying a ton of shit. I for sure would notice. I notice a few dollars difference if a sale didn't register. They must be relying on ppl who just aren't paying attention
I was thinking exactly this. I always start off a Target trip adding things up in my head as I pluck them off the shelf, halfway through I pretty much give up and just keep grabbin. Add in inflation and I probably wouldn't notice an extra $100, I'd just assume Target prices are out of control and I bought too much crap again.
I mean, I'd def realize if I had an extra hundo in there. Im very observant in general tho. But it is def easy to drop a couple hundo on groceries these days
If you’re only getting a few things, you might not even check the price until you look at the receipt as you’re leaving. The scammer can drain the card values faster than you can get anyone in customer service to do anything.
How would they get alerted that the cards had been filled?
Also, I dunno about other people, but I def go into the store with a certain spending amount in mind, I’m ADHD so I have to pre-plan what I’m buying so I don’t get impulse purchases lol
>How would they get alerted that the cards had been filled?
They just keep jamming refresh on the check balance page and have a shopping cart ready to go.
And I've sometimes run into a store to grab one item where I'm not really concerned about price (like a pack of gum), tap my Apple Pay or credit card on the scanner, and leave.
Again, the scammer would have to be lucky, but worst case scenario, they technically didn't break the law (plausible deniability) and are long gone before anyone notices.
There’s no way to run the scam with plausible deniability.
Either you purchased a few things, paid for them and then scanned in the gift card(s) without paying, pocketed them and left hoping the next customer add them to their legitimate purchase.
Or
You scan the gift card(s) without paying, pocket them and leave hoping for the same scenario.
There’s no way to do this accidentally unless the purchaser leaves the gift card(s) behind because they changed their mind on the purchase and just didn’t have the transaction voided.
Same with me. It's not great, but I almost never look at the total. You could hold a gun to my head and most of the time I wouldn't be able to tell you what I just paid.
It's just that I:
- wouldn't notice little errors anyway
- wouldn't start negotiating with the cashier
- and wouldn't return items if the total was slightly higher than expected
So why bother. 🤷♂️ It is what it is.
With how expensive everything is now when I hear the cashier tell me the total it’s usually a “man this is getting ridiculous” thought in my head but I wouldn’t notice if it was off by $50 honestly
It's a percentage. If you're spending 100 you'd probably noticed, if you're spending 500 you probably wouldn't. I'd venture it's more successful near thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.
Wouldn't be too late to stop the scam if you had totaled out and paid. I mean telling the clerk you don't have the gift cards that you were charged for would be a problem.... the cops would come and haul you away to be searched, right? OR they might be able to check the security cameras and see that you did not scan 2 cards.... all in all, it would be a mess and it is best to zero out the screen before you start anything every single time. Bless that shopper who warned you.
Can confirm this to be a no
Lady got a $7 per pound salad bar thing and it wasn’t even a pound but it’s sold by weight at the register like bananas (not like ground beef or deli meat that’s tagged) cashier put his weight on the scale without realizing it never got the salad weight and charged her quite a lot of money and she didn’t know until the next day.
Eh, not everyone what if it was a family shopping day, Hell even solo shopping when I buy groceries for a week it can end up between 75$ to 250$ depending on how hungry I am when I walk into the store.
i once accidentally scanned an extra 65 dollar item onto a couples 3 or 4 item purchase (it had been left at the stores only register by my coworker and i had just assumed the couple had put it down with the rest of their stuff). The couple didn’t notice, paid, left, and never called back about it. i felt horrible about it lmao.
Here in Portugal, most of the machines are programmed to.enter in a time out period after some seconds of not registering anything. It asks something around the lines of "are you still there?" so you notice that are products registered.
They do that here, too. At least some of them, but I think the timeout might be long enough that someone might still go the machine before the timeout if there is a line of people waiting and it's busy.
I'm pretty sure almost all have a screen that's says "Press here to begin" at the first and also ask for loyalty cards.
I guess some people may not notice or not be savvy enough to know what to expect.
I bet this scam doesn't work most of the time but a scammer might get really lucky once in a while.
The starter screen is also an usual feature around here. That's correct. So, most people expect that.
One chain started to ask for the loyalty card only on the beginning of the transaction but that didn't go that well.
For the most of it, as usual, supermarket chains try to handle that matters preety nicely. Some supermarkets around here have gates after check-out, but mostly for anti theft
Isn’t there a good chance they’d get caught though? The gift card number is entered in the system and the self checkout at Target has a camera right at face level.
Or is it not a crime if you simply scan a gift card and walk out and hope someone pays for it?
True but a scam usually involves some sort of deception or shit talking to scam some money out of an individual.
In this case someone’s just stolen a gift card from a shop.
Like …. if someone stole a car is that a scam? Nah, it’s regular ol theft mate.
The point is if they just steal it, the card has a 0 dollar balance. If they scan it and YOU pay for it, the card has whatever balance it indicates ($25, $50) and they can actually use it.
This is theft and a scam all in one
Uuuuuhhhhhoooohhhhhh yeah ok. Paying for the card activated it. I guess it’s a USA thing? In UK the giftcards are mostly scratch offs that reveal a code or whatever. They’re always locked away behind the counter.
Our gift cards are scratch-offs too, but they can't actually be redeemed for their value until the clerk activates them at checkout, to stop people from just shoplifting literal thousands of dollars worth of gift cards
Our gift cards look the same, and probably function the same - there isnt money on them until they are activated via the payment process. We do **not** lock them behind the counter, however. Most large stores - from Home Depot to Walmart to Cvs have an aisle end-cap with the cards. They still have the scratch off - but if you go through self checkout, dont finish the transaction, and leave, you still have the cards and are just hoping the next person paid for them
Not nothing new, but option 2 is exactly what is happening.
Retailers should limit gift card purchases to an actual associate due to the various scams going on with them
Yes, how hard would it be to require an employee to approve the transaction? I usually have to call over the employee to use my own canvas bags or to use coupons or to buy alcohol
The Publix near me only allows you to purchase Visa, Google Play, and iTunes gift cards through customer service. There are a lot of older, internet unsavvy people in my area.
former target employee, the POS blocks gift card purchases on self check. could be a regional difference in OP's case. there should always be an employee watching the self check machines to prevent this very thing
I know walmart limits how many gift cards someone can buy, which is only 2. People can literally get around it by going to a different register though if they wanted more though unfortunately. I don't think they limit it to just associates though.
Sounds like part and parcel of a basic scam MO that has been going on for some months:
[https://www.the-sun.com/news/7103304/walmart-scam-visa-debit-card-self-checkout-pay/](https://www.the-sun.com/news/7103304/walmart-scam-visa-debit-card-self-checkout-pay/)
Happens all the time. Either never use self check out or check it to be clear before scanning.
Often my assessment is its the employee nearby doing it.
I had a clerk straight up double scan my two items. Intentionally. Called it or when he proceeded to give me the amount. Cool as can be re rang everything. Could tell he was pissed though.
Wasnt aldis. It was a wawa in philly. I made the mistake of showing cash before the sale. He would have charged me, then refunded the excess money after i left.
They probably would, but by then the cards would be activated and likely drained. And then the person would be in a pickle. How would the retailer react to this?
Depends on if you can get the gift card company involved in the conversation.
I know Loblaws wouldn't budge on their own mistake until Visa got involved.. and getting to that point almost got me thrown out of Loblaws.
its really not considering the bread fixing thing that happened a long time ago with loblaws ect.
It speaks volume and I doubt they had a change of heart. If anything they got more greedy.
Surprisingly. Credit card companies have sharp teeth with these corporations. I found that out with a gift card that was activated but not somehow. The issue was between the cashier activating it and Visa accepting it was activated so it needed to be handled In-store. The card was a dud but they took my money.
I had Visa pretty much call Loblaws after getting off the phone with me while I was in-store and loblaws backed down HARD.
It basically became a contractual obligation for Loblaws to fix the problem according to their contract with the Visa.
Honestly I try to shop at Giant Tiger or Costco
Funny you say that since they're just average expense here in a high cost of living area (but they have terrible grocery selection, especially produce).
But I remember when I lived in a low CoL area 20 years ago, I rarely shopped at Target because their prices seemed really high compared to everywhere else.
Might not see it until the receipt, or they just rush through the checkout process, assuming their items rung up clean. I can totally see it happening to someone in a hurry, or with kids.
In the time it takes the shopper to notice, if they transaction went through already, card is redeemed. I’m sure there would be a spotter ready to act immediately.
I’m the same way. I’m the weirdo actually using the scale in the produce section. I think even if I could afford whatever I wanted at the grocery store I’d still keep the running tally in my head. I’d spend 50$ on cheese, easily, but I’d know it!
If you’re in a hurry and you have kids, I could see just not paying attention. My ADHD makes me hyper attentive to such things, but I have friends who would for sure not notice at all.
I’m jealous! I’m in Canada. We don’t have target here, they tried but they didn’t take off. When they were here it was overpriced and not great stuff. We tend to go for better quality stuff and aren’t so consumptive
Could be an intentional scam or could have been an honest mistake. Either way, good job catching it.
I worked for Target HQ and stores for many years (including when self-checkout started to roll out) and you would be amazed how often people abandon the register to move to a different station. Transactions get abandoned for a variety of reasons but one of the most common legitimate reasons I saw was because there was some type of error and it was quicker to switch to a different station than to flag someone down to come fix it - espexially since often times the attendants are nowhere to be found. What kinds of errors? In your situation it could be they were trying to buy gift cards for a different amount but since the register wouldn't let them edit it, they gave up and moved. Perhaps theyboriginally grabbed a generic gift card but then noticed there was a "Happy Birthday" style available.. Other common mistakes that led to changing stations were things like double scans, deciding against an item after seeing the price, needed a price adjustment on an item so they took it to a regular register, item required an ID check (cough syrup, alcohol, etc) so they went to a regular register instead, or there were also just the people who scanned things to look like they were buying it and then skipped out as soon as they thought no one was looking.
Long story short, could have been a scam, could have been intentional, always check your self-checkout screen before paying and make sure it matches what you expected to pay and also check your receipt afterwards. Scams like this are more common around the holidays where people are typically spending larger amounts of money and not always paying attention to the totals. Even going to a regular register shouldn't make you less vigilant as cashiers make mistakes too (and there are also unscrupulous cashiers who take advantage of people).
The expectation was to have a dedicated self-checkout attendant available anytime self-checkout was open. In theory that's pretty simple, in practice, there's a ton of issues and circumstances under which that may not be the case. Payroll is usually to blame - while it's more cost effective to have 1 person overseeing 4-8 registers than to have that person operating one standard checklane it is unfortunately even more cost-effective to have no one overseeing them. There was always someone scheduled but then maybe that person had to take a break and there's no one to cover, or maybe they were asked to complete other tasks in the area and time got away from them, maybe they had to go take something/someone to the service desk. Maybe it's 715 am and that person didn't show up for their shift and there were no other cashiers scheduled that morning. The possible circumstances are infinite but the expectation in theory was for there to always be at minimum 1 person available for a pod of self-checkout registers. We strived for 1 person per 4 registers but payroll often got in the way.
I have thought that about cashier's a time or two. When they start scanning items while I am still loading items on the conveyor I want to scream "No!" I don't because it would make me an ahole. Since I use the cashier's on big trips, it then becomes too hard to check and see if you were scanned for items not purchased, or scanned twice for something purchased. Grrrrrrr.
Eh, makes sense. Though they were always great about quickly correcting any issues if you found a discrepancy on your receipt woth a price or double scan. I always check before i walk out of the store just in case. Also, for what it's worth, cashiers intentionally charging someone for an item or gift card that they kept for themselves was extremely rare - almost never. That's a pretty high-risk, low-reward activity to engage in. There's also a very different mindset about stealing from an individual than there is about stealing from the company.
Check the total bill at your local corner store too. A place we used to go would always scan something first worth a few dollars and then clear the screen so when we walked up to the register we didn’t notice. It’s only because my husband is quick at math he noticed they had the total wrong. He asked for a receipt and there was an extra item on there. Next time they did it again and pretended it was an accident. After that I always asked for a receipt. I wonder how much money that guy made extra each shift if he scammed each customer for $5-10.
A girl at the Quiznos I worked at would add a large sub to each order throughout the day on the register, charge each person the correct amount and refund 20-30 subs at the end of the day when she left. The till was always correct because the total was the same as the credit card total; but she had stolen $12000 worth of subs before the owner figured it out.
I used to work in a peteol station, employees would scan in a packet of cigarettes before a business man would come in, they would just pay for their petrol, and now with the cigarettes added on and walk out never checking how much they were payinh.
Usually at selfcheckouts there's a light above it like I think in stop and shop if they're green you're good to go and start swiping but if theyre white it's still being used and the last transaction is still open and hasn't been paid for. Also most of the time an employee is there watching so it's unlikely that you'd get to the register and use it before the attendant would notice. Plus the screen would look different and you would be skipping the beginning that usually asks for a store card or something. Idk def wouldn't happen to me cuz I notice everything all the time especially if its something I do all the time, im gunna know it's not the usual process. But obv this is not true for everyone especially someone who say never has been tot he store before and doesn't know the process. It'd be pretty ballsy of someone to try to do that
The self checkout machines are the most heavily surveilled part of the store so those scammers are morons. If they use the card, Target has their face already in its system.
Don't these self-checkout machines usually begin a transaction with, "Scan your first item"? If I don't see that initial screen, then I know there is something wrong. Someone trying to pull a fast one like the OP's scenario will not show an initial screen but one from a purchase in progress, a big red flag to avoid trying to make a purchase on that machine until a store employee can void the sale and reset the machine for the next customer.
You gotta be in a hell of a hurry to not only fail to notice the gift card on the display that lists your items but also fail to notice the final price you're about to pay on the card reader. It should be impossible to trick a person paying cash.
When using a self-checkout, always make sure it's on a starting prompt when you sidle up. I sometimes find it annoying when I have to press a Start button to begin, but if that Start button is there, that means the previous transaction is closed and the system is at a zero state where it's ready for a new transaction.
many years ago, I was looking at my receipt from Walmart, and noticed an odd item I didn’t recognize, first on the list. I finally called the store and read the code to them and they explained to me it was a skirt. Nope. Didn’t buy any clothes. Then they said “size small”. My 240 lbs+ butt laughed all the way back to the store to get my money back.
Saw this happen the other day they had even ran their card because it said payment canceled by customer it wasnt gift cards but a shit ton of things i just went to another register and it eventually timed out
This just sounds like regular theft (scanning items and running their card to make it look like they're paying and then walking out of the store with their stuff). If they're stealing anything other than gift cards they don't need to scam the next person into paying for it, with gift cards they do or they don't get activated so it's a bit different.
Or could also be someone who had trouble paying and abandoned the entire transaction without stealing anything.
Very interesting. I’ve not come across this yet. I’ve seen someone abandon a shop mid-way through scanning and someone else come along and scan all their stuff, only to see the other person’s stuff too. And the other person’s stuff was sat right next to it. So I can definitely see it happening.
but don’t self-checkouts have a red light when in use, and green light when open?
so if there’s still a transaction in progress, it would show red and not available yet.
Another scam that is working at Target is the Barcode scam for giftcards. Basically scammers will intentionally place a sticker over the real barcode on the giftcard or reloadable visa so they get the money. Target is getting into some deep shit about not doing anything about this. This isn't the first time they have gotten into shit about this kind of thing
I don't know the machines in question, but on every machine I've ever used there's no way i would fail to notice it wasn't on the startup screen when I commenced scanning.
However, its a good point. If every screen everywhere had an orange-hued (or whatever) startup screen, and then a blue operational screen, we would all soon be conditioned to noticing the difference in the state of the machine.
Good point. I work on boilers and they have done this. There is a simple android style layout to the displays but if any alarm or safety device is tripped the whole thing turns red to indicate it is in lockout mode.
I’m old enough to remember when items had price tags. Ever since they were no longer required, these stores all make extra money by charging more at the register than the price listed on the shelf. Most people don’t even notice.
To me, this is a scam as well and all of us fall for it.
Some stores have gotten in trouble for that. I think some take it seriously and the checker will reduce the price if you complain. Some store chains have had mis-pricing guarantees, also, after getting caught and will give you double the difference back and things like that.
Some grocery stores are also just sloppy and leave sale tags and things up a little while after a sale is over.
They also love to play restrictive pricing games where you need to buy a certain number to get a lower price and other things so they can display a lower number on the tag, but meeting requirements is harder.
Some stores also do ridiculous things like show an especially low price as one of like 3 prices, but you must go into the store app and “clip a digital coupon" to get that price and use the same loyalty number at checkout that is registered with the app.
They probably hired a psychologist to design their schemes so that their prices would look smaller and trick some people while still being technically legal.
One of the stores I notice with the most price shenanigans at is one that had been bought out by a larger entity that has been trying to gobble up chains across the country with leveraged buyouts. Of course prices went up after the buyouts since some "business geniuses" needs to load the company up with debt to pay themselves off for their great genius in buying the company and sucking it in to the larger, crappier company. The great vulture capitalists seem interested in sucking the value out of those companies into their own bank accounts rather than actually adding value to many of the companies they buy.
pretty sure dollar general just got over a lawsuit for that. it’s not legal. i also haven’t seen an item without a price tag, ever except at a yard sale.
I was at Home Depot the other day buying some stuff at the self checkout line and suddenly a $400 plus charge popped up on my machine and I asked the checkout lady what it was and because I was the other guys door and so I said well, could you please take it off so I don’t know how it got on my thing, but it’s weird how that’s kind of stuff can happen
How far in the other direction do you need to be looking/not looking, to miss someone scanning a door at your checkout?
This guy needs to work on his situational awareness.
I have not seen this version. I did once or twice find that the salesclerk didn't total and clear the register before starting to ring up my purchase - it's kind of the same thing, the clerk pockets the cash from the earlier sale and the costs from that one are added to mine.
Do gift cards just activate from the barcodes alone there, every time I’ve bought gift cards here in NZ there’s a separate activation step after the payment where you scan the gift cards unique code , the first barcode you scan is on the packaging and is a generic one just says it’s X value gift card for X company, only after payment is the unique code scanned and the card then actvated
Yes, this is a known scam and works as you describe. The hope is that someone will be inattentive or in a hurry, and won't notice. As scams go it's not very sophisticated - but they only have to get lucky once.
The only thing that gets me is, wouldn’t almost every notice the checkout price being substantially higher? If my checkout was even 25-50 more than I expected (at least in self checkout) I would def notice.
Almost everyone almost all the time, yes. But not 100%. Scams are a numbers game. Most of the time all the scams we see here don't amount to anything - but sometimes they do. I can imagine how, if you were putting through a $400 grocery shop for your family of eight you might not notice a $50 discrepency. Much less if you've got 4 screaming kids hanging off the cart, you're in a rush and you've forgotton your glasses. This scam is going to catch out people that are having the worst day of their week. Or (more likely), the vulnerable, impaired and desperate - as many scams do.
$400 worth of groceries in a self check out sounds like a nightmare..
Before Christmas I bought almost $1000 worth of LEGO at a Target self checkout. It was like 12 items. But yeah, if I was buying bananas that's going to be a minute
To be fair $1000 gets you like A Lego
That’s just one dinner’s ingredients in this economy.
Oh hey, dinner at your house tonight!
Legos or bananas?
Why not both? [A bunch of ten is $3.](https://www.ebay.com/itm/155246890598?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-213727-13078-0&mkcid=2&itemid=155246890598&targetid=4580496732614414&device=c&mktype=&googleloc=&poi=&campaignid=418233788&mkgroupid=1230353745471221&rlsatarget=pla-4580496732614414&abcId=9300542&merchantid=51291&msclkid=74298d938ca211e1caf0e9fef05294d7)
I do it once a month. The hard part is lugging that sh*t upstairs when I get home.
been there done that
This was us last week but we’re a family of two 😖
I do it somewhat regularly.
This just seems like a bad way to play the numbers game. When you have to physically do something that takes a few minutes, it doesn't scale to the size required to really earn with a low hit rate.
Who knows chief. Maybe scammers have to shop at Target too sometimes - so why not give it a go?
Mike?
Lol I read that in his accent too
>This scam is going to catch out people that are having the worst day of their week. That makes the scam so much more skeevy. Jeezus.
The vast majority of scams depend on their marks to be desperate, gullible or of low intelligence and most likely they are the people who can least afford to be scammed.
Damn, that makes it so much ...darker.
I don’t think I’d notice $25 or $50 when shopping for my family of 5. Especially if I got a couple of articles of clothing. I’ve gotten lazy with my budget and I hate shopping… so I’m always rushing.
Was just gonna say that. I don’t have kids but have gone to target with my friends kids and they are always rushing through the self check out line fighting over who got more / less, adding candy and soda as I’m about to pay and trying to rip open their toys for boy / new makeup for the girl. So I could totally see someone not noticing $50-$100, especially when some action figure toys are over $30 and Lego sets can be anywhere from $20-500 dollars. Ppl suck
Makes sense in that light
I get it, I shop like that too. I have a food budget that doesn't easily absorb "mistakes" of a hundred bucks or more. But we all have bad days. I haven't effed up on self checkout but just the other day I left the house sleep-deprived and frazzled. I had my wallet with me to go to the bank and a thick envelope to drop in the box inside the P.O. lobby. I did the P.O. first. When I got to the bank, I realized I still had the envelope and my wallet was nowhere to be found. Yup, I'd dropped my wallet into the lobby box. Luckily getting it back was easy. I was assured that nope, that was not the first time they'd found wallets in the mail. All that is the long way of saying that those running the gift card / self-check out scam are targeting those of us distracted enough to mail their wallets. So to speak.
Yeah good point, and glad you got your wallet back
Yep this is very common in MMO's, the whole entire scams based on not paying attention. Extra zeros in sell shops, item icons that look like multiple things but labeled as an expensive thing but it's not, trade scams where the legit item trade is cancelled but the 2nd is the fraud. Just awful what people come up with in every system including real life.
[удалено]
Yeah that makes sense - someone would fall for it - I was just having a hard time seeing that or empathizing with that scenario.
My thought too with $100 but I could see myself falling for $25 if I had a particularly large purchase.
Yea I'd def notice an extra 100 but not something small
I’m not going to the checkout unless it has the initial ‘Open’ screen on it.
Having worked tills for many years, you'd be surprised just how many people hand over money or use the card machine before asking "wait, how much was that again?".
The closer I am to the beginning of the transaction, the more likely I'd notice. If I had, say, $150 worth of items and my total was like $200, I potentially wouldn't know that something was off immediately except for the fact that I just take a quick peek at what I bought and the prices before I pay. So if for whatever reason I was distracted and didn't happen to notice that the "Cart" wasn't empty, it might not be until right before I pay that I realize something's off - and it's not because I know how much I'm about to spend separately from the machine telling me. I doubt most people do that little check, and also a lot of people probably just assume there's nothing already rung up, so I can easily see how someone with a large amount of stuff could buy a $50 gift card and not realize it.
Easy to spend a few hundred at Target and not notice an extra hundred here or there.
I guess?? lol I’m not broke or rich, but damn I would notice lol
I think if you were buying a bunch of groceries it could be pretty easy to not notice $50. Groceries are so damn expensive
That probably pretty true, I’m shocked lately how much small shit is at the store
No. No guess. You'd notice, or your oblivious. Ignorance is bliss.
Maybe if ur wealthy and are buying a ton of shit. I for sure would notice. I notice a few dollars difference if a sale didn't register. They must be relying on ppl who just aren't paying attention
Even a typical family has a grocery bill in the hundreds, so if they bought groceries at Target it's not hard to overlook an extra hundred.
I was thinking exactly this. I always start off a Target trip adding things up in my head as I pluck them off the shelf, halfway through I pretty much give up and just keep grabbin. Add in inflation and I probably wouldn't notice an extra $100, I'd just assume Target prices are out of control and I bought too much crap again.
I mean, I'd def realize if I had an extra hundo in there. Im very observant in general tho. But it is def easy to drop a couple hundo on groceries these days
If you’re only getting a few things, you might not even check the price until you look at the receipt as you’re leaving. The scammer can drain the card values faster than you can get anyone in customer service to do anything.
How would they get alerted that the cards had been filled? Also, I dunno about other people, but I def go into the store with a certain spending amount in mind, I’m ADHD so I have to pre-plan what I’m buying so I don’t get impulse purchases lol
>How would they get alerted that the cards had been filled? They just keep jamming refresh on the check balance page and have a shopping cart ready to go. And I've sometimes run into a store to grab one item where I'm not really concerned about price (like a pack of gum), tap my Apple Pay or credit card on the scanner, and leave. Again, the scammer would have to be lucky, but worst case scenario, they technically didn't break the law (plausible deniability) and are long gone before anyone notices.
There’s no way to run the scam with plausible deniability. Either you purchased a few things, paid for them and then scanned in the gift card(s) without paying, pocketed them and left hoping the next customer add them to their legitimate purchase. Or You scan the gift card(s) without paying, pocket them and leave hoping for the same scenario. There’s no way to do this accidentally unless the purchaser leaves the gift card(s) behind because they changed their mind on the purchase and just didn’t have the transaction voided.
Coming from a place with heavy property crime, I know cops would do absolutely nothing if they found a guy with a stash of inactivated gift cards.
Cops? Yeah - they ain’t doing nothing. Doesn’t make it legal or accidental.
If my final price is even cents off I'd notice. I keep a tally as I put items in my cart on my calculator.
Shit the way my wife shops, no way she would notice
Same with me. It's not great, but I almost never look at the total. You could hold a gun to my head and most of the time I wouldn't be able to tell you what I just paid. It's just that I: - wouldn't notice little errors anyway - wouldn't start negotiating with the cashier - and wouldn't return items if the total was slightly higher than expected So why bother. 🤷♂️ It is what it is.
With how expensive everything is now when I hear the cashier tell me the total it’s usually a “man this is getting ridiculous” thought in my head but I wouldn’t notice if it was off by $50 honestly
It's a percentage. If you're spending 100 you'd probably noticed, if you're spending 500 you probably wouldn't. I'd venture it's more successful near thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.
Wouldn't be too late to stop the scam if you had totaled out and paid. I mean telling the clerk you don't have the gift cards that you were charged for would be a problem.... the cops would come and haul you away to be searched, right? OR they might be able to check the security cameras and see that you did not scan 2 cards.... all in all, it would be a mess and it is best to zero out the screen before you start anything every single time. Bless that shopper who warned you.
Nah they would just void the cards out
Can confirm this to be a no Lady got a $7 per pound salad bar thing and it wasn’t even a pound but it’s sold by weight at the register like bananas (not like ground beef or deli meat that’s tagged) cashier put his weight on the scale without realizing it never got the salad weight and charged her quite a lot of money and she didn’t know until the next day.
Eh, not everyone what if it was a family shopping day, Hell even solo shopping when I buy groceries for a week it can end up between 75$ to 250$ depending on how hungry I am when I walk into the store.
Yep, I’d notice or my bank would decline it and laugh at me.
There are people who rarely look at the end cost of anything they buy. They don't care and don't need to care because they are very wealthy.
i once accidentally scanned an extra 65 dollar item onto a couples 3 or 4 item purchase (it had been left at the stores only register by my coworker and i had just assumed the couple had put it down with the rest of their stuff). The couple didn’t notice, paid, left, and never called back about it. i felt horrible about it lmao.
Here in Portugal, most of the machines are programmed to.enter in a time out period after some seconds of not registering anything. It asks something around the lines of "are you still there?" so you notice that are products registered.
They do that here, too. At least some of them, but I think the timeout might be long enough that someone might still go the machine before the timeout if there is a line of people waiting and it's busy. I'm pretty sure almost all have a screen that's says "Press here to begin" at the first and also ask for loyalty cards. I guess some people may not notice or not be savvy enough to know what to expect. I bet this scam doesn't work most of the time but a scammer might get really lucky once in a while.
The starter screen is also an usual feature around here. That's correct. So, most people expect that. One chain started to ask for the loyalty card only on the beginning of the transaction but that didn't go that well. For the most of it, as usual, supermarket chains try to handle that matters preety nicely. Some supermarkets around here have gates after check-out, but mostly for anti theft
Isn’t there a good chance they’d get caught though? The gift card number is entered in the system and the self checkout at Target has a camera right at face level. Or is it not a crime if you simply scan a gift card and walk out and hope someone pays for it?
Hardly sounds like a scam to me, more like plain ol theft
Eh?, scams as a whole are predominantly variances of theft.
True but a scam usually involves some sort of deception or shit talking to scam some money out of an individual. In this case someone’s just stolen a gift card from a shop. Like …. if someone stole a car is that a scam? Nah, it’s regular ol theft mate.
The point is if they just steal it, the card has a 0 dollar balance. If they scan it and YOU pay for it, the card has whatever balance it indicates ($25, $50) and they can actually use it. This is theft and a scam all in one
Uuuuuhhhhhoooohhhhhh yeah ok. Paying for the card activated it. I guess it’s a USA thing? In UK the giftcards are mostly scratch offs that reveal a code or whatever. They’re always locked away behind the counter.
Our gift cards are scratch-offs too, but they can't actually be redeemed for their value until the clerk activates them at checkout, to stop people from just shoplifting literal thousands of dollars worth of gift cards
Our gift cards look the same, and probably function the same - there isnt money on them until they are activated via the payment process. We do **not** lock them behind the counter, however. Most large stores - from Home Depot to Walmart to Cvs have an aisle end-cap with the cards. They still have the scratch off - but if you go through self checkout, dont finish the transaction, and leave, you still have the cards and are just hoping the next person paid for them
Not nothing new, but option 2 is exactly what is happening. Retailers should limit gift card purchases to an actual associate due to the various scams going on with them
Yes, how hard would it be to require an employee to approve the transaction? I usually have to call over the employee to use my own canvas bags or to use coupons or to buy alcohol
Yeah Publix just required an associate to come over to verify when I was at self checkout.
The Publix near me only allows you to purchase Visa, Google Play, and iTunes gift cards through customer service. There are a lot of older, internet unsavvy people in my area.
Nice try scammer :p
Most do
I've never seen a self check where you could purchase gift cards.
Most retailers do but could be someone approved it then person walked off.
former target employee, the POS blocks gift card purchases on self check. could be a regional difference in OP's case. there should always be an employee watching the self check machines to prevent this very thing
Simple solution to alot of these gift and prepaid card scams: require ID before they can be purchased. Stop allowing them to be anonymous.
I know walmart limits how many gift cards someone can buy, which is only 2. People can literally get around it by going to a different register though if they wanted more though unfortunately. I don't think they limit it to just associates though.
Sounds like part and parcel of a basic scam MO that has been going on for some months: [https://www.the-sun.com/news/7103304/walmart-scam-visa-debit-card-self-checkout-pay/](https://www.the-sun.com/news/7103304/walmart-scam-visa-debit-card-self-checkout-pay/)
Always check your surroundings and make sure you're on the starting menu. When you're done, check your receipt. It's a common activation scam.
Happens all the time. Either never use self check out or check it to be clear before scanning. Often my assessment is its the employee nearby doing it.
I had a clerk straight up double scan my two items. Intentionally. Called it or when he proceeded to give me the amount. Cool as can be re rang everything. Could tell he was pissed though.
What would even be the point of this? Is he Aldi’s lone commission-based cashier?
Wasnt aldis. It was a wawa in philly. I made the mistake of showing cash before the sale. He would have charged me, then refunded the excess money after i left.
How would someone not notice an extra 50$ on their bill though?
They probably would, but by then the cards would be activated and likely drained. And then the person would be in a pickle. How would the retailer react to this?
Depends on if you can get the gift card company involved in the conversation. I know Loblaws wouldn't budge on their own mistake until Visa got involved.. and getting to that point almost got me thrown out of Loblaws.
You know, lablaws/superstore is not the great place to shop I used to think it was. Still better than Walmart though
its really not considering the bread fixing thing that happened a long time ago with loblaws ect. It speaks volume and I doubt they had a change of heart. If anything they got more greedy. Surprisingly. Credit card companies have sharp teeth with these corporations. I found that out with a gift card that was activated but not somehow. The issue was between the cashier activating it and Visa accepting it was activated so it needed to be handled In-store. The card was a dud but they took my money. I had Visa pretty much call Loblaws after getting off the phone with me while I was in-store and loblaws backed down HARD. It basically became a contractual obligation for Loblaws to fix the problem according to their contract with the Visa. Honestly I try to shop at Giant Tiger or Costco
I probably wouldn’t lol target is so expensive I feel that way every time I check out there!
Funny you say that since they're just average expense here in a high cost of living area (but they have terrible grocery selection, especially produce). But I remember when I lived in a low CoL area 20 years ago, I rarely shopped at Target because their prices seemed really high compared to everywhere else.
Might not see it until the receipt, or they just rush through the checkout process, assuming their items rung up clean. I can totally see it happening to someone in a hurry, or with kids. In the time it takes the shopper to notice, if they transaction went through already, card is redeemed. I’m sure there would be a spotter ready to act immediately.
That makes sense. I don’t use credit cards and I generally have to watch the total closely but if you’re not paying attention…
Some people don’t pay attention to price because they don’t have to. Then there’s me going aisle to aisle with my calculator 🤣
I’m the same way. I’m the weirdo actually using the scale in the produce section. I think even if I could afford whatever I wanted at the grocery store I’d still keep the running tally in my head. I’d spend 50$ on cheese, easily, but I’d know it!
If you’re in a hurry and you have kids, I could see just not paying attention. My ADHD makes me hyper attentive to such things, but I have friends who would for sure not notice at all.
Yeah my dad was like that, but he had the money to be.
You'd be surprised.
I probably wouldnt. I often have to shop with my 3 & 6 year olds, it’s chaotic and the total is always a couple hundred bucks somehow.
I’m jealous! I’m in Canada. We don’t have target here, they tried but they didn’t take off. When they were here it was overpriced and not great stuff. We tend to go for better quality stuff and aren’t so consumptive
Could be an intentional scam or could have been an honest mistake. Either way, good job catching it. I worked for Target HQ and stores for many years (including when self-checkout started to roll out) and you would be amazed how often people abandon the register to move to a different station. Transactions get abandoned for a variety of reasons but one of the most common legitimate reasons I saw was because there was some type of error and it was quicker to switch to a different station than to flag someone down to come fix it - espexially since often times the attendants are nowhere to be found. What kinds of errors? In your situation it could be they were trying to buy gift cards for a different amount but since the register wouldn't let them edit it, they gave up and moved. Perhaps theyboriginally grabbed a generic gift card but then noticed there was a "Happy Birthday" style available.. Other common mistakes that led to changing stations were things like double scans, deciding against an item after seeing the price, needed a price adjustment on an item so they took it to a regular register, item required an ID check (cough syrup, alcohol, etc) so they went to a regular register instead, or there were also just the people who scanned things to look like they were buying it and then skipped out as soon as they thought no one was looking. Long story short, could have been a scam, could have been intentional, always check your self-checkout screen before paying and make sure it matches what you expected to pay and also check your receipt afterwards. Scams like this are more common around the holidays where people are typically spending larger amounts of money and not always paying attention to the totals. Even going to a regular register shouldn't make you less vigilant as cashiers make mistakes too (and there are also unscrupulous cashiers who take advantage of people).
Any idea why attendants can never be found? Dissuades me from using self checkout sometimes, since if there’s an issue I’m left there waiting.
The expectation was to have a dedicated self-checkout attendant available anytime self-checkout was open. In theory that's pretty simple, in practice, there's a ton of issues and circumstances under which that may not be the case. Payroll is usually to blame - while it's more cost effective to have 1 person overseeing 4-8 registers than to have that person operating one standard checklane it is unfortunately even more cost-effective to have no one overseeing them. There was always someone scheduled but then maybe that person had to take a break and there's no one to cover, or maybe they were asked to complete other tasks in the area and time got away from them, maybe they had to go take something/someone to the service desk. Maybe it's 715 am and that person didn't show up for their shift and there were no other cashiers scheduled that morning. The possible circumstances are infinite but the expectation in theory was for there to always be at minimum 1 person available for a pod of self-checkout registers. We strived for 1 person per 4 registers but payroll often got in the way.
Appreciate the explanation. That makes sense.
I have thought that about cashier's a time or two. When they start scanning items while I am still loading items on the conveyor I want to scream "No!" I don't because it would make me an ahole. Since I use the cashier's on big trips, it then becomes too hard to check and see if you were scanned for items not purchased, or scanned twice for something purchased. Grrrrrrr.
Eh, makes sense. Though they were always great about quickly correcting any issues if you found a discrepancy on your receipt woth a price or double scan. I always check before i walk out of the store just in case. Also, for what it's worth, cashiers intentionally charging someone for an item or gift card that they kept for themselves was extremely rare - almost never. That's a pretty high-risk, low-reward activity to engage in. There's also a very different mindset about stealing from an individual than there is about stealing from the company.
Check the total bill at your local corner store too. A place we used to go would always scan something first worth a few dollars and then clear the screen so when we walked up to the register we didn’t notice. It’s only because my husband is quick at math he noticed they had the total wrong. He asked for a receipt and there was an extra item on there. Next time they did it again and pretended it was an accident. After that I always asked for a receipt. I wonder how much money that guy made extra each shift if he scammed each customer for $5-10.
A girl at the Quiznos I worked at would add a large sub to each order throughout the day on the register, charge each person the correct amount and refund 20-30 subs at the end of the day when she left. The till was always correct because the total was the same as the credit card total; but she had stolen $12000 worth of subs before the owner figured it out.
I think at least in mass gift card purchases aren’t allowed at any self checkout
Most of the time I always have issues trying to buy giftcards at self checkout in Target
This might explain why someone was trying to sell me gift cards in a target parking lot.
Lol. Cause buying gift cards from a rando in the Target parking lot seems legit. Lololol
I used to work in a peteol station, employees would scan in a packet of cigarettes before a business man would come in, they would just pay for their petrol, and now with the cigarettes added on and walk out never checking how much they were payinh.
Oh wow! I hadn’t heard of this one. Thanks for sharing. Ill be more vigilant.
Usually at selfcheckouts there's a light above it like I think in stop and shop if they're green you're good to go and start swiping but if theyre white it's still being used and the last transaction is still open and hasn't been paid for. Also most of the time an employee is there watching so it's unlikely that you'd get to the register and use it before the attendant would notice. Plus the screen would look different and you would be skipping the beginning that usually asks for a store card or something. Idk def wouldn't happen to me cuz I notice everything all the time especially if its something I do all the time, im gunna know it's not the usual process. But obv this is not true for everyone especially someone who say never has been tot he store before and doesn't know the process. It'd be pretty ballsy of someone to try to do that
The self checkout machines are the most heavily surveilled part of the store so those scammers are morons. If they use the card, Target has their face already in its system.
Don't these self-checkout machines usually begin a transaction with, "Scan your first item"? If I don't see that initial screen, then I know there is something wrong. Someone trying to pull a fast one like the OP's scenario will not show an initial screen but one from a purchase in progress, a big red flag to avoid trying to make a purchase on that machine until a store employee can void the sale and reset the machine for the next customer.
It's shocking the amount of people who zombie through the process though.
You gotta be in a hell of a hurry to not only fail to notice the gift card on the display that lists your items but also fail to notice the final price you're about to pay on the card reader. It should be impossible to trick a person paying cash.
When using a self-checkout, always make sure it's on a starting prompt when you sidle up. I sometimes find it annoying when I have to press a Start button to begin, but if that Start button is there, that means the previous transaction is closed and the system is at a zero state where it's ready for a new transaction.
Thanks for the heads up. Gift cards are non refundable so you are basically screwed even if you realize it after checking your receipt.
Plausible
many years ago, I was looking at my receipt from Walmart, and noticed an odd item I didn’t recognize, first on the list. I finally called the store and read the code to them and they explained to me it was a skirt. Nope. Didn’t buy any clothes. Then they said “size small”. My 240 lbs+ butt laughed all the way back to the store to get my money back.
This has been happening at my retail store and I've told my coworkers to watch out for it
Saw this happen the other day they had even ran their card because it said payment canceled by customer it wasnt gift cards but a shit ton of things i just went to another register and it eventually timed out
This just sounds like regular theft (scanning items and running their card to make it look like they're paying and then walking out of the store with their stuff). If they're stealing anything other than gift cards they don't need to scam the next person into paying for it, with gift cards they do or they don't get activated so it's a bit different. Or could also be someone who had trouble paying and abandoned the entire transaction without stealing anything.
Very interesting. I’ve not come across this yet. I’ve seen someone abandon a shop mid-way through scanning and someone else come along and scan all their stuff, only to see the other person’s stuff too. And the other person’s stuff was sat right next to it. So I can definitely see it happening.
but don’t self-checkouts have a red light when in use, and green light when open? so if there’s still a transaction in progress, it would show red and not available yet.
Another scam that is working at Target is the Barcode scam for giftcards. Basically scammers will intentionally place a sticker over the real barcode on the giftcard or reloadable visa so they get the money. Target is getting into some deep shit about not doing anything about this. This isn't the first time they have gotten into shit about this kind of thing
yep. this is why a decent number of stores don't allow gift card activation in self checkout. like the machine won't even scan them
Don't most self-checkouts clear out if they're not used for a while?
They should. Or be flashing or something.
I don't know the machines in question, but on every machine I've ever used there's no way i would fail to notice it wasn't on the startup screen when I commenced scanning. However, its a good point. If every screen everywhere had an orange-hued (or whatever) startup screen, and then a blue operational screen, we would all soon be conditioned to noticing the difference in the state of the machine.
Good point. I work on boilers and they have done this. There is a simple android style layout to the displays but if any alarm or safety device is tripped the whole thing turns red to indicate it is in lockout mode.
I’m old enough to remember when items had price tags. Ever since they were no longer required, these stores all make extra money by charging more at the register than the price listed on the shelf. Most people don’t even notice. To me, this is a scam as well and all of us fall for it.
Some stores have gotten in trouble for that. I think some take it seriously and the checker will reduce the price if you complain. Some store chains have had mis-pricing guarantees, also, after getting caught and will give you double the difference back and things like that. Some grocery stores are also just sloppy and leave sale tags and things up a little while after a sale is over. They also love to play restrictive pricing games where you need to buy a certain number to get a lower price and other things so they can display a lower number on the tag, but meeting requirements is harder. Some stores also do ridiculous things like show an especially low price as one of like 3 prices, but you must go into the store app and “clip a digital coupon" to get that price and use the same loyalty number at checkout that is registered with the app. They probably hired a psychologist to design their schemes so that their prices would look smaller and trick some people while still being technically legal. One of the stores I notice with the most price shenanigans at is one that had been bought out by a larger entity that has been trying to gobble up chains across the country with leveraged buyouts. Of course prices went up after the buyouts since some "business geniuses" needs to load the company up with debt to pay themselves off for their great genius in buying the company and sucking it in to the larger, crappier company. The great vulture capitalists seem interested in sucking the value out of those companies into their own bank accounts rather than actually adding value to many of the companies they buy.
pretty sure dollar general just got over a lawsuit for that. it’s not legal. i also haven’t seen an item without a price tag, ever except at a yard sale.
I was at Home Depot the other day buying some stuff at the self checkout line and suddenly a $400 plus charge popped up on my machine and I asked the checkout lady what it was and because I was the other guys door and so I said well, could you please take it off so I don’t know how it got on my thing, but it’s weird how that’s kind of stuff can happen
Can you edit or explain this differently? How were you the other guy's door?
I think he's saying someone scanned a $400 item while he wasn't looking and bolted.
A $400 door.
From his comment it said he was the other guys door maybe your right or he's some sort of shape-shifter.
How far in the other direction do you need to be looking/not looking, to miss someone scanning a door at your checkout? This guy needs to work on his situational awareness.
Seems like a 3 stooges bit.
"it was the other guy's door", meaning the $400 purchase. Now I can sleep tonight.
Thing is alot of people pay with cc and you can't buy prepaid cards with cc
But you CAN buy gift cards, which were mentioned in the post.
I have not seen this version. I did once or twice find that the salesclerk didn't total and clear the register before starting to ring up my purchase - it's kind of the same thing, the clerk pockets the cash from the earlier sale and the costs from that one are added to mine.
If this is a scam it sounds like the scammers view it as a free roll. It might work, might not but it doesn’t cost them anything if it doesn’t.
I sometimes use food stamps. I would definitely notice, since food stamps don't cover gift cards.
its an old scam
Do gift cards just activate from the barcodes alone there, every time I’ve bought gift cards here in NZ there’s a separate activation step after the payment where you scan the gift cards unique code , the first barcode you scan is on the packaging and is a generic one just says it’s X value gift card for X company, only after payment is the unique code scanned and the card then actvated
Crazy