OK it's probably not the latest, but I hadn't seen it before:
Person checks all their groceries, presses the button to pay, and doesn't pay. They walk out.
We saw this happen in Lakeway last week. We were next in line to get a self checkout station. We got to the station and there were some steaks rung up and the system was sitting at the screen where it says to use the machine for payment.
We got assistance and the staff cleared those steaks off the computer, but not before practically patting us down to be sure we weren't the thieves. We understand, but it still felt yucky. We were not wearing baggy clothes or carrying backpacks. Husband was wearing skinny jeans and a t-shirt and not carrying a bag. I was wearing similar clothes and carrying my phone bag which isn't even big enough to fit my car key fob, which is on a caribiner clipped to the strap. IDK where they thought we could possibly hide steaks.
Last night we were back in the store to pick up a couple items for dinner and the one person working self-checkout was hovering, trying to maintain visibility of the payment part of each transaction. He wasn't singling us out, he was trying to watch all the stations to make sure people paid, while also providing assistance to whoever needed it. IDK how one person can manage that because the checkout stations aren't neatly lined up in a row, they're laid out in a square. He looked stressed out.
Anyway, I hope this isn't happening at your store too. Thieves suck!
“Just over half of Amazon Fresh stores are equipped with Just Walk Out. The technology allows customers to skip checkout altogether by scanning a QR code when they enter the store. Though it seemed completely automated, Just Walk Out relied on more than 1,000 people in India watching and labeling videos to ensure accurate checkouts. The cashiers were simply moved off-site, and they watched you as you shopped.”
I went to the self checkout at Walmart, and someone had already scanned their Walmart account info in the self checkout machine and left without scanning any items. I scanned my items like normal, and was about to request a digital receipt when I noticed that the receipt would be sent to the scammer’s phone number, not mine. I called the attendant over and she cleared it for me.
It occurred to me that someone could enter their info into the self checkout, have a receipt sent to their phone, then go and grab a high-value item from that receipt off of the shelves and “return” it to customer service for cash.
Has anyone encountered this? Am I missing something that would prevent the scammer from doing this?