The 'Official' Shoplifting & Retail Fraud Thread

[Muh-Dick]

I was in best buy the other day while my dad looked at their laptops and so I walked around the store a bit, said "hi" to a friend and bought some ram for my new eee pc.Then began to make my way back to where my dad was, the store was filled with employees and one of them looked at me weird.I found my dad and we looked at their video game section and this black guy approached me and pointed to my jacket pocket asking if I was going to pay for it.I showed him the receipt and he said "It looked suspicious on the cameras, ok. I was just checking".

[Spy25]

For the radio barcode thing...
Take some of those really strong "rare earth" magnets in with you. when you have the item, just swipe the magnets across it a few times. it will turn the system off. easy. Just make sure that the item isn't electronic, because those magnets will damage it.

Works for me. Good luck.

[mswils411]

I have a few diffrent subjects to speak on so I am putting them all in one. First I have to tell you guys about my experiance just yesterday at a certain store. Pm for name,, About 8 or 9 days ago a friend of mine purchased a 126.99 air rifle. He returned it the next day. Now my favorte retail scam is barcodes. I know the thought of paying a penny is a absolute no no to some of the members here,

Me I always believed the sayin it takes money to make money. Anyway there are certain barcodes that do not say product name or type of product, Example upc-a 793795360205 this code when scanned will simply say Fbm10. nothing more. when in all acuallity its a wall mount for a flat screen tv. But there are mounts that start at 30.00 and go to 250.00 all by the same manufacture. The Fbm10 is simply the model number.


I cant tell u how many products I used that code on. So I used it on a air rifle I go to return it first the lady said no returns and points to sign saying riles and ammo aall sales are final. Bullshit I knew cause my friend just returned the one he legally paid for, So I simply tell her get me the manager, I say the fact is I caught my 15 yr old with it and that means your store sold it to him illegally, Manager walks up land ask whats the problem the first worker says this lady wants to return this but i told her our policy is no retuns on guns or ammo.


Manager looks at her with a disgusted look and says its not a real gun, return it , The worker says to her the story about my son ,, The manager looks at me and says Im going to give u a number to call and let them know what happened. I said I will leave it be as long as Im getting the store credit for it, The other lady says Ill have to give u store credit cause u have no reeipt,

The manager gets irritated and looks at her and say move then takes her key does a override and pulls out the cash , looks at the worker and says not in a case like this , U give her the cash, She then tells me when a prompt comes up for a worker to ask for id to verify the customer is 18 and they dont do it, It bothers her very much and proceeds to apologize for a good ten minutes afterwards,

Now I dont know about the rest of u , But I have never been able to get cash back w/o receipt. But this seemed to work pretty well.

Next I wanted to mention although every store can carry diffrent return policy , For instance a walmart 6 blocks from me will take no return w/o receipt if it is over 50 bucks . But one 5 miles will take any return up to 3 times a yr w/o receipt.

I like taking barcodes from 5.00 or 10.00 clothing items and putting them on 60.00 dresses and suits go to dressin room where i can put that code on with no problem. Also automotive has no cameras or either extremely wide area blind spots, 169.00 graco car seats become 30.00 craco toddler booster seats . go to self check out are in line cause its a heavy item and they usually pass u the scanner gun.

Recently I seen someone post that they dont pay attention to item names and will not catch it if a phillips rings as a braun, Well here they do for sure. Especially walmart. Google walmart upc code scam, A couple got away with over a million dollars worth before getting caught, ALL FROM WALMART. They were doin it for a couple of years and my opinon could have still got away with it but they got sloppy and GREEDY.

So thats that , just thought Id share that with everyone. Sorry if there is typos Im typing in the dark.

Ps. Dont brag to everyone u know when u pull off a scam .. Remember 3 can keep a secret if 2 of them are dead.

[Rage]

a few years ago i got busted shoplfiting...i know how pathetic huh? well since i got charged and now have a record im a lil more cautious as to what and where i will steal and from who.

a few places ive noticed it to be easy to lift from is Swap meets, Pawn Shops, and in utah every now and then we have these huge knock off sales at the fair grounds where they sell knock offs and stuff like that, these places are easy to lift from.

im gonna start doing the upc code scams but very carefully so as no to raise alert. after all i dont want another B misdemanor and shit

[bloodlusta]

Shoplifting from out door shops and stales is much safer because there are no cameras and the stall/shop owner is so intent on making a sale that when they are talking to someone it is very easy to pocket stuff without being noticed.

[master lurtz]

The market gardens in Melbourne, IF you get spotted you could dissapear into the crowds in a flash. The problem is that except for cool lighters and belt buckles and cheap t-shirts there is not usually anything worth lifting

[bloodlusta]

Hey Lurtz good to see you back here, the site has gone to the dogs though.

Market stores are a great place to practice shoplifting because of the low risk involved in it. For beginners try the "take 2 put 1 back trick". Its simple you take two of the same item off the shelve making it look like you only have one. You replace one of the items and slip the other into your pocket.

Note: most experienced lifters will already know this, its for people new to shoplifting

[pyrion]

one of my favorite techniques for lifting something that you know has an electronic tag on it and you are not sure where it is or dont want to use a powerful magnet that might damage the product is this: take the electronic tags off of other products (e.g. CD's) and in sort of a reverse pickpocketing manner just put them in as many people's pockets/purses as possible who are about to check out or on their way out (it is best if they are the type of people who the store security won't think are stealing) . buy something small just to aviod suspicion and as the people who unknowingly have the tags on them walk out the door the alarm will go off. after the fourth or fifth time they will either turn off the alarm to see what is going on or they just wont care if it goes off again. either way it enables you to get your stolen item/s out of the store without having to worry about the alarm. keep in mind that due to the time consuming manner of this method it is best to use it when you are about to make a major haul (worth at least a couple hundred) I also highly discourage doing this to the same store repeatedly.

[realgone]

Man, haven't boosted since I was a JD. Is it still the same, where if you're "made", they wont tap you UNTIL you exit the store?

Bar/UPC code swapping seems to be the way to go, especially nowadays with self checkout. Those self checkouts are supposed to be "smart"; so if doing so, I'd make sure the weight of the wanted item matches the weight of the item the bar/upc code came off from.

[dustinm]

Originally Posted by pyrion

one of my favorite techniques for lifting something that you know has an electronic tag on it and you are not sure where it is or dont want to use a powerful magnet that might damage the product is this: take the electronic tags off of other products (e.g. CD's) and in sort of a reverse pickpocketing manner just put them in as many people's pockets/purses as possible who are about to check out or on their way out (it is best if they are the type of people who the store security won't think are stealing) . buy something small just to aviod suspicion and as the people who unknowingly have the tags on them walk out the door the alarm will go off. after the fourth or fifth time they will either turn off the alarm to see what is going on or they just wont care if it goes off again. either way it enables you to get your stolen item/s out of the store without having to worry about the alarm. keep in mind that due to the time consuming manner of this method it is best to use it when you are about to make a major haul (worth at least a couple hundred) I also highly discourage doing this to the same store repeatedly.

I worked at an electronics store and they would HOLD YOU UP until they were sure even if was going off when nobody was going through, purse-search and all. I didn't care because theft doesn't bother me, but it does put a bit of a dent in your plan.

Originally Posted by realgone

Man, haven't boosted since I was a JD. Is it still the same, where if you're "made", they wont tap you UNTIL you exit the store?

That's still the way it works for apprehensions. They can/will still harass you while inside the store if they catch you, but no detaining or arresting until you've left.

[drklegacy65]

This is a little complicated but it will work.....get like five friends (the more security the more friends) have them get shopping carts and fill them up so there hard to move...Get the item you wanna steal..Have your friends put the shopping carts in front of a person who works there so if they see u they are going to have to move the heavy cart to get to u. Then u could make a run for it or hand the item off to one of your friends so when they catch u, ur clean. Make sure the handoff is under the radar or else he/she will also get busted

[karol.karol]

I've been doing barcode swapping on grocery stores and walmart (only on grocery items for now) on self-checkout for a month. quite thrilled how much money I saved! I've been comtemplating trying out the barcode swapping method on the $100 Braun shaver, stick barcode of some cheaper shaver ($20) on it. But I havent done anything this big want to make sure it is safe. I am worried about RFID. grocery items dont have RFID so that self checkout works fine. But I am afraid expensive packaged items have RFIDs on them, or inside the box. even if I pass the self checkout, it will trigger alarm when you exit the door. So how do I know if the Braun shaver or any other items for that matter has RFID on them? how can it be done then?

[bloodlusta]

Supermarkets are unlikely to put tracker on things if thy have an automatic check out. Because if anyone buys it the alarm would go off.

[realgone]

Regarding asset-tags: doesn't some (or all) self-checkout kiosks deactivate 'em upon payment? I can go card a high-value (>$500) item at...say...Lowe's, and do self-checkout (btw, some Lowe's ask for last 4 @ self-check, but on-screen keypad will pop up so you can enter it yourself rather than wait for a sales person to "verify"). These items must have security feature on or within packaging, but they don't go off @ exit.

Years ago when skating was popular in my circles, my bro' use to got to Toys R' Us and swap price stickers from cheap skates to more expensive ones and keep or resell 'em. He made weekend party $ doing that every time he was broke.

[karol.karol]

How do they deactivate? If you swap the barcode, doesn't the system try to deactivate the intended item with the matching barcode not the one you are trying to steal? or does it deactivate some kind of magnetic thing in the package as you pass it over the scanner?

[realgone]

Good question. I don;t now. However, how may times have you exited store with purchases and sensor triggers? Security barely raise an eyebrow nowadays at that. And if confronted, ya got a paid receipt.

[Lucky]

Hi everyone. I maybe kind of new on here but I did at one point have an account on here years ago. Just found it again. But! I've been doing this(shoplifting) on an off for quite sometime now. Thought I had some ideas to add that I didn't read here yet.
Well... First, I'd like everyone to know I got my techniques and theory's from working at department stores before I ever actually tried anything. I worked Loss Prevention at a chain of grocery stores in northern california for the better part of a year. I'm basing my opinions on my experience of doing so.

1. What I like to do when I know I'm walking into a store to shoplift is call while in the parking lot. Free 411 helps alot with this. Call 1-800-GOOG-411. It's a google powered free 411. Easy as shit and free. But call the store and ask to talk to someone from Loss prevention. To find out if they're workin in there If there is any question as to why you're asking, say you're trying to get a job as LP. When you are connected (if they are there) be friendly, find out how many people work at a time (potential team members) and if they open and close with the store, it's nice to know LP schedules at places you shoplift at. Listen for clues as to race, ethnicity. If someone is working alone and has a spanish accent... Watch out for mexicans etc etc etc

The grocery store chain I worked for only had loss prevention in any given store once a week if that. If they're not, you're chances of being successful are exponential. But, with stores that have a long history such as grocery stores, people grow a loyalty to their store and look out for merchandise. I hate those people.

2. Park your car a good distance away from the door facing the exit your going to take. Store employees will sometimes assist Loss prevention in the event the perp is too scrappy or to strong to hand cuff. But only if it's visible by the employees. So you wanna make it well into the parking lot. Be prepared to have to take off in your whip. Don't get fucked by some parking blocks or a fuckin planter because you


3. Loss prevention or store employees may only stop you if they have completed their checklist of 3 things ONE. They must see you make the selection of the product (see you grab it off the shelf) TWO. They must personally see you conceal the product. and... THREE. They must keep a constant eye on you via physical or camera. (If you're in a blind spot and no one can physically see you, no go) They cannot stop you and keep you against your will if you might've stuffed in the freezer section.

4. Unless you just DGAF, don't shoplift when not necessary and don't do it dressed like a shoplifter. Wait to do your "Shopping" on good days such as Saturday morning well... all day saturday, sunday morning or friday night. When the place is packed and you're dressed up like you just taught sunday school. No one suspects the well dressed blonde white boy to be stealing a shit load of expensive ass razor head replacements that go for 30$ for an 8 pack (I ain't payin for shit like that during this economic crisis!)

5. When you walk in looking for what you know you're getting. Walk the length of the store looking at the signs. You know.... Isle three has "Cereal, Oatmeal, Bread, Cookies and Crackers" walk around looking at the signs like you've never been in there before. After you find and conceal the desired product, continue walking like that as if you're still looking for something as you make your way to the door. I personally was fooled by stuff like that because I didn't think the shoplifter was leaving and couldn't react on time. It's not complicated as fuck, but it is effective. And if an employee asks what you're looking for just say too many things to list or a bunch of things and thank them for their attempt at helping with a smile and eye contact. People who avoid eye contact automatically get watched.

6. Loss prevention is "UNDER COVER" therefore, they are dressed as civilians and there will usually be a big ass dude that will follow you outside untill they can grab you and try to take you in against your will. I stay prepared for that by keeping a thing of mace/pepper spray in my right jacket pocket(which is where my right hand is when I'm walking out) I've never actually maced Loss prevention yet but here's what I would do if I were to. I would mace him, make a lightweight scene amongst whom ever saw it for maybe 10 seconds as if he were trying to abduct you. People wont suspect you to be a criminal enough to call police. Then I would high tail it to my car that is situated just how I want it and get the fuck out of there. I would then stash the merchandise somewhere like a dumpster you can throw it into without getting out of the car just incase you are pulled over. You do run the risk of being charged with assault instead of shoplifting but that's only if they can prove you were shoplifting and infact you knew it was Loss prevention and not some guy just trying to grab up on your shit or mug you. That's what pepper spray is for. Of course you would have the risk already calculated as you stepped out the door of the store because shoplifting is only shoplifting once you walk out of the door with the products. There is nothing illegal about walking around the store with a bottle in your pants untill you step outside. People do it all the time with products like condoms, lubes, and preperation H.

Thank you all for reading this through, it's quite long and only has a few good points to it but I haven't been caught shoplifting since I was a freshmen in highschool. Good luck and good shopping

[realgone]

Interesting post Lucky. But, they'll have to be some lame-assed LP peeps to fall for S.E.ing like that.

[karol.karol]

I did it! paid $20 for $160 shaver. i still dont know if they tag these stuff at all, but appearantly going through self-check out works. i was a bit nervous because the self-checkout kiosk kept saying "please wait for attendant", but i didn't panic, i just looked at the attendant, he was not even looking at me, then after like 10 seconds or so, it let me proceed.

i hate when that happens, self-checkout always tells me to "wait for attendant" at seemingly random times. i dont know what i am doing wrong.

[koolschooler]

Originally Posted by karol.karol

I did it! paid $20 for $160 shaver. i still dont know if they tag these stuff at all, but appearantly going through self-check out works. i was a bit nervous because the self-checkout kiosk kept saying "please wait for attendant", but i didn't panic, i just looked at the attendant, he was not even looking at me, then after like 10 seconds or so, it let me proceed.

i hate when that happens, self-checkout always tells me to "wait for attendant" at seemingly random times. i dont know what i am doing wrong.

If you let the product touch the scale at all, it would set it off, did you do that?

What I always do is scan an item, hold it in my right hand, wait for it to show you how to bag something, and then press skip bagging process
Perfectly legit excuse to not want to waste plastic
Never had any problems or alarms going off

[Spyrall]

I'm going to buy a ring magnet

But I need to know;
What's the minimum Nxx grade needed to use on most hard tags ?

And does the volume of the magnet make a difference?

[master goat]

I have never tried this myself but it seems like a good idea. Although I must admit that I took the idea from the book "Survivor" by Chuck Palanhniuk, the author of "Fight Club". In the book, the main character talks about finding used reciets then find the matching item in the store and "return" the item that you never bought. One problem might be a security tag on the item but for the most part, I think it would work.

[master lurtz]

That works in most shops that have genralised barcodes, can get quite alot of free shit that way

[vulcansx]

hey guys in my dreams i just came bak from wal-mart and it was almost too easy, there was no LP so i jacked 2 70$ flash drives, sum 30$ sunglasses and a toothbrush , i beeped but im pretty sure it was the sunglasses cause i didnt de-tag them, didnt kno they had RFID's, i took the flash drives out of packages n checked them so it wasnt them. but anyways it doesnt really matter if u beep the old lady comes over, "u got a movie or sumthin" nope just chips and pop, than she just sends me thru, those beepers really mean nothing but to intimidate people and i guess if u beep enuff they might catch on. but anyways happy lifting

[Rage]

I started a part time side job today where i work with alot of retail and it said that the soft AES tags would be within 2 inches of the upc. I dont know if this is only my chain of stores or universal but i thought it was a little bit of advice.

[lemon]

I used to work at wal-mart in the electronics department when I was in highschool.

Looking back on our return policy, they check the item but weren't overly thorough. I've known people to buy a new 360, swap the guts with that of their RROD 360 and return it.

i'm certain you could do the same with desktop computers. Buy the highest end one they have there and steal a couple gigs of ram or a graphics card or something. On their site they have some pcs with quad core processors, you could probably swap that with a shitty pentium D, swap the ram for a 512 or 1gb stick, swap the HDD for something small.

even if they did turn the thing on it would still boot. If you were feeling gutsy you could just take everything and put some dead P3 components or something in there to give it weight.

just an idea for you guys.

[bloodlusta]

Nice thinking, could be a good business plan

[realgone]

Another return trick is to neatly open up packaging from bottom. Swap out contents, then reseal and return. Had a gig in in New O' some years ago and needed additional PC; no cost-effective rentals available, so went to a big box store (compusa or similar, I forgot), bought a system, and returned it 4 days later. Didn't keep system, just returned it for refund. No restocking fee on unopened items there Did same in San Diego with an lcd monitor. Another time I met up with a co-worker in Chicago; he did the same shit on a PC in some other state and returned it to same store chain in Chicago. Never did they open up the box to check contents upon return before issuing credit. We weren't stealing items, just getting free "rentals". Now, once in Long Beach we had to replace a dead dvd player. Bought one at BB, or similar (all them stores the same to me). Opened it up and found phonebooks! My partner exchanged it with little trouble. He returned it to different store than where it was purchased. He was told that it was initially bought at one store and returned to another where we ended up buying it.

[Son of Thor]

i have been very sucesseful at this little venture, but would like some advice. for starters, i usually only lift from Walmart, Fred Meyers, and Safeway. Security in Safeway is a joke, usually there is only one or two manned aslies, and more than one exit. I went in to one, and filled up a backpack with misc. food , and then grabbed a couple cases of drinks, and walked right out the front door. ..... for walmart and freds, i usually just get small things, but lately i have ben gettting biger items. i have found that with items like lego sets, the tags are inside the box, and you can advert them if you just dump the contents of the box into the bacpack. Also, food is almost never tagged, i lifteed 4 t-bone steaks and a whole bunch of seasonings, and no alarms went off. the thing i would like to know, is how to get past all the tags. it would be real easy to get tv and dvd players if you knew where the tags were located and how to deactivate them.

[xxsLaYeRxx]

I've heard that if u get some friends to sort of draw off the undercover gaurds then its much easier to get the job done.
get your friends to wear really baggy clothes with their hood up
and have them walk around pointlessly in the electronics section while u raid the other part of the store and vice versa.