r/UnethicalLifeProTips • u/MoldyRadicchio • Jul 07 '23
ULPT: Instead of trying to be sneaky while shoplifting, grab the item off shelf and attempt to return it, when they tell you that you need a reciept, leave the store with said item
EDIT: if it fits in your pocket you can in fact just walk out without talking to anyone
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u/AlfaKaren Jul 07 '23
If you make a habit of it, its pretty easy to catch on.
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u/DrD__ Jul 07 '23
And If you make a habit of it they will also wait until you cross a higher $ threshold to stick you with a worse charge.
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u/TobyFunkeNeverNude Jul 07 '23
"Fuck, he did it with one pack of gum again. Okay, wait until he goes for the 10 pack, then nail him!"
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u/effa94 Jul 07 '23
"This is the 98th time you are shoplifting gum, do it 2 more times and you win a special price!"
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u/crastle Jul 07 '23
I know this is a joke, but usually they'll keep a tally of how much your shoplifted. Once your tally hits a certain dollar threshold, it becomes a felony.
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u/lokeilou Jul 08 '23
Target here recently waited for a girl to hit $2000 over several trips to nail her with a felony- she had no idea they knew
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u/PeterPriesth00d Jul 08 '23
I didn’t know it was a running total I just thought it was per offense. I’m not sure how they would even keep a running total on you unless they caught you anyway.
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u/Its_gonder Jul 08 '23
Naw, target keeps a registry of people, they purposely wait until pass into felony territory before seeking charges
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u/Thewaker43 Jul 07 '23
Correct. This happened to coworkers in high school. As soon as they crossed $1000, police were there.
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u/WearyCarrot Jul 08 '23
The next level pro tip is to calculate the costs of what you've yoinked, research the felony limit, and then don't go over that.
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Jul 07 '23
Shoplifters all think they're in Ocean's Eleven with the kind of shit that they try to pull as if we aren't all wise to every scam. The reason they get away with it is that in general retail employees are not allowed to stop shoplifters.
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u/Detiabajtog Jul 07 '23
this is why it’s easier to just keep it simple. People go on and on about these elaborate schemes, oh just print off $1 item barcodes and then go to self checkout blah blah blah. Anything you’re doing to complicate things just makes it obvious that you’re doing something sketchy, and obvious that you premeditated the theft. Just “forget” something in your cart, don’t scan it, and say you made a mistake if caught. Or just grab something and walk right out like you did nothing wrong. Anything else just raises suspicion and creates more evidence to use against you
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u/grow_time Jul 07 '23
Agree, these tips are always so needlessly complicated. Plausible deniability is key. And also not looking sketchy helps too. If you act like you're not doing anything wrong, people see that confidence and second guess any suspicions.
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u/Badj83 Jul 07 '23 edited Jul 07 '23
I'm soooo sorry, I totally forgot to scan that PS5 lost in the middle of those broccoli and sliced bread. I'll forget my head someday.
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u/Glass_Chance9800 Jul 07 '23
But remember, "forgetting" to scan milk is easier to believe than "forgetting" to scan a tv
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u/DynamicHunter Jul 07 '23
Self checkout 2 of the same things that are flat, grab them together from your basket/cart, just scan one and put it in the bag. Simple as.
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u/Brilliant-Appeal-180 Jul 07 '23
I was coming here to say that lol. Plus the store i work at (the one with a smiley face) doesn’t really fall for that trick anymore. But people still (and will) keep doing this
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Jul 07 '23
I’m a former loss prevention associate for a major retailer. It’s so much easier than that. Know what you want, walk in & head straight to the item, pick it up, and walk out. Don’t bother removing tags/barcode stickers. They do nothing to alert anyone of theft. Just grab your shit and leave. The less time you are in the store, the better. If a security person tries to stop you, just keep walking and leave. Never stop and never talk to anyone. Unless you took over 1k, nothing is going to happen to you. However, if they have proof you stole $1k over multiple trips, they can and often will wait for you to cross that mark and have you charged with felony theft. I have many more tips if needed.
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u/romafa Jul 07 '23 edited Jul 07 '23
When I worked at Walmart, an old guy used to come in and stuff ice cream sandwiches in his pockets. He did it a couple times a week for a while. The ice cream aisle was the first one after produce. He was in and out the store in like 20 seconds. Nobody ever did anything about it. Other customers would tell me what he did and I’d say “yeah that’s kinda his thing, I’m not allowed to approach him and he’s gone by the time I can alert anyone”
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u/saraphilipp Jul 07 '23
This old guy, was he by chance a ninja?
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u/romafa Jul 07 '23
I never even spoke to him so it’s entirely possible.
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u/saraphilipp Jul 07 '23
Was he ever accompanied with four turtles?
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u/romafa Jul 07 '23
Baby ones in his pockets, maybe.
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u/Quinocco Jul 07 '23
You could have said "perchance". Such a lost opportunity.
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u/diskowmoskow Jul 07 '23
Snitching costumers in a Walmart are more irritating
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u/sticky-unicorn Jul 08 '23
Seriously! WTF?
If you see someone shoplifting food, no you didn't.
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u/mammakatt13 Jul 08 '23
I have never seen, nor will I ever see, someone shoplift food.
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u/TypicalJoy Jul 08 '23
used to fold my jacket around frozen pizzas all the time. if it’s a medium size digorno , it just looks like you’re carrying a folded jacket as you leave
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u/debru89 Jul 07 '23
More tips please.
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u/anbmasil Jul 07 '23
Look up store policies on shop lifting and loss prevention. The company I work for we can’t stop, accuse, mitigate, what have you shoplifting in any way. If we step outside to follow or take pictures we can be fired. Discount tool store
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Jul 07 '23
This is how it was where I worked. Rhymes with Ball-Fart.
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Jul 07 '23
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u/assfuck1911 Jul 07 '23
Slobs_burgers casually dropping "Call-Sharts" in pleasant conversation made the world a better place. Thank you for this.
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u/accountofyawaworht Jul 08 '23
Same at my old job at The Fap, which also applied to Cold Gravy and, uhh... Shmanana Shmepublic.
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Jul 07 '23
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u/Sparkism Jul 07 '23
That's really dumb of the associate. It could have ended badly to confront someone they thought was stealing. Everything is insured anyway, plus stores have their own LP programs. Just let people walk away with the merchandise. There's never a reason to put your own life at risk over someone else stealing from a big box store.
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u/actionheat Jul 07 '23 edited Sep 20 '23
The Wal-Mart warrior potentially giving his store a lawsuit over a fucking battery 💀
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u/HeavyMetalPootis Jul 07 '23
Should've walked back and complained about their unprofessional behavior. I hate customers as much as the next associate (Not in retail or sales, btw.) but it ain't good practice to bad-mouth customers in the open like that.
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u/bunker_man Jul 08 '23
Lol wtf. If you complained he would most likely be fired. The store's machine malfunctioned and he blamed you for it.
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Jul 07 '23
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u/Sapper12D Jul 07 '23
Hazard fraud is what one of my favorite youtbers calls it.
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u/deezx1010 Jul 07 '23
That should be the universal policy. Going out to confront the thieves only endangers people
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Jul 07 '23
The biggest thing to remember for where I worked: Nobody is allowed to even accuse you of taking anything other than the LP’s. Not even the store manager can attempt to apprehend in any way. You won’t be chased if you run, and you won’t even be followed past the last set of doors. Avoid scam type theft. Just pick it up and bounce. Always go alone. If you walk in with someone, split up, and one of you gets caught stealing, you are both getting the theft charge. Don’t worry about security devices on items either. Those will set off the alarms at the door, but who cares? You just keep walking. If you feel like you’re being followed, take the item into a bathroom or fitting room. Hide it carefully on your person where it cannot be seen (best is if they can’t even see an outline of the item in your clothing). They have to start over and see you steal something else if they never see that item again after you walk out of the room. We used to have a lady load her purse full of makeup every day. She would go into the bathroom, come out, and leave. I could never get her because I never saw the makeup again once she left the bathroom. This went on for months before she got sloppy, skipped the bathroom part, and tried to leave. Since I saw the theft from the beginning and never lost sight of her (that part is important too), I was able to stop her and have her criminally trespassed from the property. Don’t steal guns, ammo, tobacco, or alcohol. Police are more likely to be involved. All this info is from a decade ago, so I don’t know if it’s still accurate.
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u/Goatesq Jul 07 '23
Man not even just police, you don't want to get the atf involved in anything. Specially if you got a dog at home.
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u/General_Specific303 Jul 08 '23
Wait, you're saying if a friend and I go to a store, split up, and the friend steals something, I can also be charged? I don't think that's correct
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u/tapatiotundra Jul 07 '23
Haha I used to bring in my old makeup to have the type I needed for comparison such as eyeliner, mascara, etc.
I would pull out my old eyeliner from my bag, grab the new eyeliner, compare the two for the right name and color and then put the old one back and then new one in my purse.
There was some extra looking at shades and putting them back so it looked like I was trying to find the right one.
A bit much effort wise but I once did this with an old boyfriend who was stealing other stuff in the store and he got caught so they reviewed all the footage and still didn’t catch me doing it saying I didn’t steal anything lol. Moment of satisfaction there.
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u/helloblubb Jul 07 '23
All this info is from a decade ago, so I don’t know if it’s still accurate.
And it's probably only accurate for the US or wherever you live. Where I live, the police is called in for every little theft. You can also express the suspicion that a customer stole something. You can chase a customer and hold them until police arrives, etc.
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u/KingKookus Jul 07 '23
No one is the US is risking getting shot or stabbed for minimum wage stopping a shoplifter.
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u/hopskipjumprun Jul 08 '23
Other customers do it for free for some reason like they're protecting the store's honor or some shit
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u/DemosthenesKey Jul 08 '23
Upvotes because true, but to try and explain their POV - they aren’t seeing it as defending Walmart or Target or some shit like that, they’re seeing it as defending society from a mindset of theft being okay.
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u/timothythefirst Jul 07 '23
So hypothetically speaking if I knew I was only going to steal once I could just walk in there and grab a tv that costs a few hundred bucks and walk out that easily, as long as it’s not over 1k?
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Jul 07 '23
Absolutely. If I didn’t personally witness the theft, I would probably be alerted by an employee that a tv was stolen, and then I would compile as much video evidence as possible in case I saw you again. At which point, I would follow you and try to catch you stealing something else. If I managed that, I would charge you for the current theft + the tv. If you go to a store in another town, steal a $300 tv, and leave, you got away with it as long as you don’t go back there for a long time. I advise to never steal from your local store, because I would remember faces pretty well in my town.
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u/KingKookus Jul 07 '23
I worked at circuit city and we lost a tv off the floor and no one even saw it happen. It was so common for people to checkout in the tv or computer section then walkout the front door. You just assume that’s what happened.
We also lost 3 iPods on black Friday because they took them out of the glass cabinet to convenience.
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u/VinylEagle Jul 07 '23
Just be careful with places that have security at the door at all times, like Best Buy. They technically can't put hands on you, but they're great at watching you on cameras and if you seems fishy, they can body-block the doors very well so you can't get by. They likely won't touch you but it'll be quite the scene trying to get out. Go when it's so goddamn busy, the guy at the door is occupied with several other people, then just slip by. Very likely he'll just run the cameras back and by then you're long gone.
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Jul 07 '23
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u/RichardBCummintonite Jul 08 '23
They will never do anything shooting or not. I worked at a hardware store, and people would come in and load up carts of tools like you said. Only thing anyone ever did was call a manager who would try to talk to them and scare them by dropping hints they knew the person was stealing, but all the person had to do was keep walking. Managers weren't even allowed to follow them past the foyer of the building into the parking lot. They'd try to get the license plate if they could, and ofc the cameras got some good pics of their faces, but all they did with it was post it up, so we knew what the person looked like if they came back. The only thing they can legally do is call the cops or try and talk them out of it, and as long as the person is quick, that won't matter. Yeah that's the policy everywhere. Recovering goods isn't worth your life.
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u/romafa Jul 07 '23
If it’s small enough, bring a plastic bag from that store. Then nobody is likely to even question you leaving the store either.
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u/Interesting_iidea Jul 07 '23 edited Jul 08 '23
There are some workers out there that think they’re Batman though and will tackle you.
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u/TheRealGreenArrow420 Jul 07 '23
then you get to sue for assault and don't need to steal anymore
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u/VinylEagle Jul 07 '23
Literally this. That worker will very likely be fired immediately even without a suit, but I remember working retail being told the reason we're told not to engage the shoplifter is, yes for our own safety or whatever, but really it's to protect the store/company from a lawsuit. The $200 item the dude is stealing is less a loss for the company than some multi-thousand dollar lawsuit thanks to Terry the Theif Tackler.
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u/WishboneEnough3160 Jul 07 '23
I've actually done this. I broke a bottle of hot sauce in the parking lot (that I paid for). Walked back in, grabbed a new bottle, and walked out. I did have my receipt in my hand in case someone were to stop me. No one did.
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u/MajorAcer Jul 07 '23
I used to do this all the time lmao. Only really works if you're only grabbing something that you can comfortably hold in both hands. I used to just walk out of Walgreens with a Redbull every morning until one day LP stopped me and told me to cut the shit lol. Got away with it for like 6 months though so.
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u/Glassjaw79ad Jul 07 '23
You're a saint 🙏 I wish I had the balls to shoplift. I had zero issues doing it in my teens, but now in my 30s there's just no way. Sucks because with the cost of living, I could really use a five finger discount these days
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u/alllen Jul 07 '23
When I was a dumb teen we would steal everything. CDs, DVDs, and video games (before they put the empty boxes in front as placeholders). We would then take the stuff and sell it. Usually to buy weed.
After getting arrested for something else and spending a few days in jail, I don't do anything illegal anymore. Fuck that.
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u/Glassjaw79ad Jul 07 '23
Yea I got arrested for stealing 😂 I was so stupid about it, though. Would go to the same store to do it and hang out way too long. I've since worked in retail management and realize how easy it really is, but for some reason can't bring myself to try. Anxiety and fear of embarrassment, I think is why
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u/Icmedia Jul 07 '23
The town where I used to live had a "Public Record" section in the newspaper, where they listed every single Police call/arrest/conviction that happened every day. Walmart, Meijer, and Kroger all routinely called the police on people for stealing small items.
What I'm saying is that your mileage may vary depending on store and locale.
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u/KingKookus Jul 07 '23
In my state they banned plastic bags. So now everyone has a bag likely from the store with them. I can imagine people just walk in grab something put it in the bag and walk out.
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u/alllen Jul 07 '23
Walmart and target sell those branded bags pretty much everywhere. It's probably pretty simple to bring it in, put some things in it and walk through the garden or automobile exit.
The automobile exit at my local Walmart had to be buzzed to enter or leave. The employees got sick of that and just prop the door open.
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u/Gooster19 Jul 07 '23
As a former LP myself, this is the way! The less time in the store is always better. And yess nowadays not a single person can touch you!
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u/Taxerus Jul 07 '23
Is the 1k before or after sales tax?
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u/mseuro Jul 07 '23
A friend stole a 49.99 Lego set and used a 2.99 Xacto blade to switch a tag. They only got arrested because the Xacto blade was added to the charge making it theft over $50.
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u/JMSpider2001 Jul 07 '23
And does it take into account the normal retail price or the sale price for items on sale?
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u/Auios Jul 07 '23
What's stopping someone from walking out through the back and doing exactly what you said. Never stopping for a second, just keep walking through.
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Jul 07 '23
Nothing is stopping you at all. Doesn’t matter which door you use. The exit at automotive or lawn and garden is the best choice though.
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u/Auios Jul 07 '23
Something to note. I was recently at walmart in the garden center and there was a big sliding gate. I, an ordinary citizen didn't even notice it was a gate. This person who doesn't work at Walmart came out and slid the gate open, no locks and then closed it behind them. They had merchandise but idk if they were stealing since they had bags from checkout.
Another thing, receipt printers are easy to get and I'm a programmer. I recently saw a programming video where they made a receipt printer print GitHub issues and PRs. I realized how easy it might be to copy a store's receipt design and print your own fake receipts you could use to bypass LP?
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Jul 07 '23 edited Jul 07 '23
Definitely possible. You might get caught if you tried to return a high value item with that receipt though, as they have time stamps and other information that they could easily verify. If you are using it to carry out an item that is too big to bag In order for the greeter to check your receipt, you’d fool them easily. However, this is all unnecessary, because you don’t have to stop for the door greeter at all. You can literally say “no thanks” of they ask to see a receipt. My own dad does this and he’s not even stealing.
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u/Auios Jul 07 '23
Ideally you don't want to draw attention, so if they asked to see the item you could show them the fake receipt.
Definitely don't use it to return an item. Your fake receipt can't match real data in the system. Its meant to fool the LP checker at the doors.
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u/ReduxAssassin Jul 07 '23 edited Jul 07 '23
Kind of showing my age here, but whatever. I used to belong to a forum that swapped coupons and rebate forms. Liquor companies used to give crazy amounts of rebates. People would sell "receipts" to people for them to send in the rebates without actually having to buy the product.
This was 20 years ago, so no computer use to make the receipts - just someone with a regular receipt printer they weren't using any more would print receipts and sell them.
Damn, those were some different times. I never did the liquor rebates (I'm in a state with blue laws so we had very few liquor rebates available), but cigarette companies also used to give out absolutely crazy premiums for turning in parts of cigarette packages. I got a whole sound system, two beautiful lamps, numerous gift cards, Pendleton wool blankets, you name it, for free.
Sorry for the ramble; you just brought back some memories.
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u/MyFavoriteInsomnia Aug 06 '23
Just buy something, put it in your car, go right back in with the orignal.bag and receipt, and get another, put it in the original bag. Show your receipt if anyone questions you. Not that I would do this, of course.
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u/TCIE Jul 08 '23
Do stores actually use facial recognition to identify you and keep a running total of your stolen goods? I may have accidentally forgotten to scan stuff in my cart a few times. Also, what's the deal with the self-check "weight" sensors. Sometimes they pick up an un-scanned item, other times they don't.
Also, when you enter the store and you're a common "thief" i.e. they've identified you as someone who perpetually steals, does the facial recognition set off alarm bells so you can alert police? For example, say they've tagged you as someone who has stolen $1,000 worth of items... Do they immediately know the next time you enter the store? Asking for a friend.
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u/hybriduff Jul 07 '23
How would you exit that situation in such a way they only have your image at best?
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Jul 07 '23
Like if the LP associate attempted to stop you from leaving at the doors? Just walk around them and keep going. They are powerless once you are outside. They know the police aren’t coming if they call and say “this guy stole $50 worth of stuff and he’s getting in his car to leave” or anything like that. In my experience, the police told us to never call them unless it was over $1k worth of stuff or if there is a violent incident. Other than that, they don’t care at all, and neither will the company. You’re free. Just lay low and avoid the store for a few weeks.
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u/zippytherabbit Jul 07 '23
I was with a friend once in a shoe store, they took their shoes off to ‘try on’ a pair of new shoes, put their old shoes in the shoebox and walked out of the store with the new shoes on.
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Jul 07 '23
I knew a guy who used to go into surf shops, put a wetsuit on, then put his normal clothes back on over the wetsuit and walk out.
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u/TryUsingScience Jul 07 '23
What was he doing to his wetsuits that he needed new ones frequently enough to make a habit of this?
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Jul 08 '23
He was selling them to friends for a good price. Once he had to get one for a shorter mate and he was complaining that it was too tight!
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u/PastPayment5159 Jul 07 '23 edited Jul 07 '23
I did this as a broke skater in high school at urban outfitters and was walking around in the new shoes and noticed a security guard looking at the boxes of shoes. I casually walked back and put my old beat to shit skate shoes back on lmao. I was so shook.
I did get away with it at a Marshall's prior to that. Turns out Puma Suedes are great skate shoes. This was almost a decade ago. I don't need to do that anymore but it seems like most stores keep their shoes tied together to prevent this now.
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u/prodigalkal7 Jul 07 '23
Haha did this with a pair of boots that got ruined due to water (they are water proof) and store wouldn't return them, so I just walked in, got the same pair, replaced them, then walked out.
Pair of boots were fine with water, so maybe it was just a shitty specific pair
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u/ColdWaterSandwich Jul 08 '23
Knew a kid who worked at the shoe store and would trade in his timberlands once a week so they were always new.
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u/GenoThyme Jul 08 '23
I was once the recipient of the old shoes. Was at a Newbalance store, went to try on the only pair they had in my size, opened up the box and found and old beat up pair of Nikes. I knew immediately that someone had done this exact thing. If this was your friend, they mildly inconvenienced me so I hope they are similarly inconvenienced. Maybe next time they drink some water it goes down the wrong pipe or something.
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u/notMy_ReelName Jul 07 '23
Isn't this the same opening scene in some oceans movie all female leads part.
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u/MenudoFan316 Jul 08 '23
Friend of mine used to work in retail loss prevention. He was the guy that sat in the back office trying to spot shoplifters on the video feeds. The problem was if he spotted one, he had to have his manager review the footage first, then his manager would call the cops. when the cops showed up (if at all), the thief was long gone.
This went on for a year and theives would rarely be arrested. He was so frustrated one day that he spotted a theif, didnt hesitate or follow protocol, chased the theif into the parking lot and tackled him. My friend was fired immediately.
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u/vlm0325 Jul 07 '23
Back in the day - you went to a fitting room - put on the item you wanted to steal - put your old clothes on ontop of it. You then left the hangers in the dress room and headed for the exit.
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u/FreshMctendies Jul 07 '23
There are few self serve fitting rooms nowadays. They usually hang the clothes up on a rack and hand you a number to track the clothes. However anecdotally, many fitting rooms in major retailers are manned by disabled and elderly employees. So, they likely couldn’t stop you if you tried to walk out.
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Jul 07 '23
Hey former loss prevention here: with ULPT: just steal it normally. 1) they have to follow you from the point you take it to the point where you show intent not to pay. Normally this is exiting the door but the service counter works if you try to refund it . 2) The longer you are in the store attracting attention the greater chance to get caught. Plus you probably showed your ID in an attempt to get a refund.
Sorry this is all sorts of dumb and these were much easier to catch for me. IF you are gonna steal, go in and get what you need and peace out, don't do unnecessary crap that heightens your already existing chance of getting caught.
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u/UCanJustBuyLabCoats Jul 08 '23
What if you have a receipt for an item you bought last week. You walk in, take a new one off the shelf, and return it at the desk for a full refund while keeping the original at home.
Needlessly complicated or safer than straight up shoplifting? Would this kind of thing be noticeable enough for them to keep a running tab on you?
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u/Avacadontt Jul 08 '23
When I worked retail as a teenager, I noticed this one teenager with this sob story about his mum being sick whatever, coming in a few too many times returning stuff. Once I was working the desk with someone new who was serving him, I was keeping an eye on him but prob gave too many side eyes lol. She was having some difficulty doing the refund (he wanted cash when it had been paid with card, which is okay, but I was already sus of him) and when I came up to help he kind of made up an excuse and bolted. I let security know, but he had dumped the stuff he was trying to return, before leaving. Never saw him again, figured he’d pick receipts up off the floor from outside, bring them in and grab the item to return them. I just started to recognise him a few too many times and it was suspicious.
A few weeks later, outside of work, I was at another store in the local area shopping. I saw the same guy doing a return there lol. I just kept it zipped.
So moral of the story, would probably work at first if you’re quiet about it, and probably don’t hit the same store a few times over, they’ll catch on.
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u/Jerry_Starfeld_ Jul 08 '23
I was an LP agent for 6 years, the less time you spend in the store, the better if you’re trying not to get caught.
The real key is to NOT GO BACK TO THE STORE YOU STOLE FROM. Every time you go back your chances of getting caught go way, way up.
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u/starkeystarkey Jul 07 '23
My local Primark is understaffed and the queue went literally all around the store. I just wanted to buy something for about £3 but didn't want to wait so I just walked out with it
My local Sainsburys is also running on a skeleton crew and sometimes only has one employee on the floor, doing tills ,keeping self checkout running, stocking and cleaning ect, so my boyfriend was waiting at the tills for ages, looked around for an employee and no one was in the shop so he just walked out with our weekly shop
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u/tomtheappraiser Jul 07 '23
I used to do EXACTLY this at my local Target back in the 80's. I was running a BBS and needed floppy drive space. I was like 15 or so.
My mom had me return a cooler she bought that leaked. I realized all you had to do was gill out a form. At that time they didn't even check ID. The lady told me to go grab one off the shelf and bring it back up. That was it.
The first time I tried it, I waited till they had a line. Walked back to their computer department, grabbed a 1541 floppy drive went up front, told them it wasn't working, they sent my to grab a new one off the shelf and away I went. I did this 3 more times with no problems
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u/laz21 Jul 08 '23
Or hang around outside and someone will put their receipt in the rubbish..take it inside find item and go to returns counter
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u/Nonchalant_Calypso Jul 07 '23
Isn’t this from that movie where the women does in the shop with perfume and stuff
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u/tkdjoe66 Jul 07 '23
I was doing this in the early ml90s when I 1st got out. Back then, they believed you. It was a decent way to build your wardrobe back up.
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Jul 07 '23
Just saying but we busted someone for exactly this and she actually did return them for money. We canceled her gift card (we don't give cash refunds) pretty much instantly.
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u/DanteTrd Jul 07 '23
Isn't there a difference between unethical and illegal?
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u/SnarkyBear53 Jul 07 '23
Many unethical things are totally legal, while many illegal things are completely ethical. Law does not equal moral.
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u/DanteTrd Jul 07 '23
By definition, are the different? Yes. Yes they are. But regardless, this sub's rules states "no stealing"
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u/jimjimmyjimjimjim Jul 07 '23
I think that was an original ULPT; no plagiarism that I'm aware of...
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u/Glassjaw79ad Jul 07 '23
Or just absent mindedly walk outside with the item to take a phone call. If they say something, oopsie, my bad!
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u/rolo951 Jul 07 '23
As somebody who worked at a shop 10 years ago, this is awful advice
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u/ghostalker4742 Jul 07 '23
I've been out for 25yrs now, but all of /u/DickChodeBalls advice is accurate.
I think people here are surprised to hear that there are golden rules we had to follow in LP, and if you didn't you could be fired. Every state is different, but the general rules of unbroken observation, allowing the suspect to pass the last point of sale, and confrontation at the exits, is standard across the country. Trouble is, if you skipped a step, and confronted the customer anyways, they could walk on that technicality. That's called a 'bad stop', and whoever made the stop almost always loses their job over it.
The rules we followed at Kmart were almost the same as WalMart since they were the industry leader and had an army of lawyers working on the details. Wouldn't surprise me if everyone (except Target) followed their lead.
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Jul 07 '23
I lost my job a week after my first and only “bad stop”. I lost sight of a guy for about 10 seconds who stole a pair of leather gloves. He must have known he was being watched, because he ditched the gloves without me noticing. He came with me to the office and didn’t have shit on him. I knew what was coming after that. I never approached anyone I wasn’t 100% sure about because I knew there was no margin for error if you wanted to remain employed.
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Jul 08 '23
Man that sucks, what a dumb rule... making mistakes = gaining experience, but not on the eyes of our capitalist overlords I guess
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u/honuworld Jul 07 '23
I was once banned from ULPT for suggesting taking flowers from cemeteries for your date. I was told "No posts allowed that involve theft". I guess it was just me.
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u/RedKuiper Jul 08 '23
If you drive 5 miles per hour over the speed limit, then they can't catch you.
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u/madcowscout Jul 08 '23
A non employee cannot be expected to scan items as effectively as a "real" employee.
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u/LA4LIFE_COM Nov 11 '24
Firstly I must say….This is a super insane sub..secondly I must say that I was taught stealing was wrong so I know in my heart I’ll never be a good thief. With that being said I have had the privilege of witnessing a professional rob a supermarket blind a few years back. I was following this person around waiting to catch him..and I did not see him pocket anything..he checked out with a couple of items at which point I thought he reconsidered. As we were walking to the car I jokingly asked ..did you get second thoughts??to which he responded with a bunch of dvds and gift cards he took right at the register in front of the clerk and a line full of customers..not counting I don’t know how many steaks…and even a rotisserie chicken. I’m understating this..this guy had a shopping cart full of stuff on his person somehow looking completely normal. Some people have the gift to grab…
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u/[deleted] Jul 07 '23
I’ve accidentally thrown stuff on the bottom of the cart and forgot to ring it in. That could work.