A TikTok video went viral after a Walmart shoplifter filmed herself getting caught trying to steal a backpack from the store. The woman was using the self-checkout when the store’s AI-powered cameras detected an item she purposely left unscanned.
Videos by Suggest
The shared video shows the shopper fake scanning a backpack. The screen then suddenly lights up with the message “Associate is on the way.” The TikToker then stops scanning the rest of her items, realizing that she’s just been caught.
The video has the caption, “POV: When you usually don’t get caught and now you’re banned for 2 years from all Walmarts in my area.”
Walmart Shoplifter Goes Viral in Wild Video
A notified employee walks over when the message on the screen changes to “Missed scan detected.” A recording of the shopper pretending to scan the item is also shown, verifying the theft. For a moment it seems as if the Walmart employee might let her off the hook. The employee can be seen covering her mouth and laughing. But she proceeds to call her manager.
TikTok user Nesha shares the caption, “Even though she laughed … she called the manager, police and had us escorted outside,” Nesha wrote in the caption alongside “#stealinggonewrong”
According to the New York Post, Walmart is working to take more shoplifting precautions. They lose over $3 billion a year to theft. The company began using AI-powered cameras in 2017, according to Business Insider.
The company has also completely removed the self-checkout stations in some stores. This was done to try to decrease the amount of theft. A Walmart spokesperson also told the New York Post that the chain, “does not publicly disclose security measures in our stores.”