lovebombanarchy
26th April 2006, 03:10
Your thoughts on corporate shoplifting as a political tactic? In my opinion, shoplifting is perhaps the most effective means of organically redistributing wealth from the rich to the poor, and if it is done conscientiously for altruistic purposes, it has the potential to develop into a massive, revolutionary egalitarian movement. Shoplifting is both an easy way of punishing corporations that deliberately destroy the environment, exploit and abuse laborers, and destroy community and local culture, and an effective way of acquiring resources to give to the impoverished victims of capitalist oppression.
anyway, here's some stuff on it:
http://www.crimethinc.com/library/english/libdays.html
Why I Love Shoplifting
from big corporations
Nothing compares to the feeling of elation, of burdens being lifted and constraints escaped, that I feel when I walk out of a store with their products in my pockets. In a world where everything already belongs to someone else, where I am expected to sell away my life at work in order to get the money to pay for the minimum I need to survive, where I am surrounded by forces beyond my control or comprehension that obviously are not concerned about my needs or welfare, it is a way to carve out a little piece of the world for myself—to act back upon a world that acts so much upon me. It is an entirely different sensation than the one I feel when I buy something. When I pay for something, I'm making a trade; I'm offering the money that I bought with my labor, my time, and my creativity for a product or service that the corporation wouldn't share with me under any other circumstances. In a sense, we have a relationship based on violence: we negotiate an exchange not according to our respect or concern for each other, but according to the forces that we can bring to bear on each other. Supermarkets know they can charge me a dollar for bread because I will starve if I do not buy it from them; they know they can't charge me four dollars, because I will go somewhere else. So our interaction revolves around unspoken threats, rather than love, and I am forced to give up something of my own to get anything from them . Everything changes when I shoplift. I'm no longer negotiating with faceless, inhuman entities that have no concern for my welfare; instead, I'm taking what I need without giving anything up. I no longer feel like I am being forced into an exchange, and I no longer feel as if I have no control over the way the world around me dictates my life. I no longer have to worry about whether the pleasure I receive from the book I purchased was equal to the two hours of labor it cost me to be able to afford it. In these and a thousand other ways, shoplifting makes me feel liberated and empowered. Let's examine what shoplifting has to offer as an alternative way of life.
The shoplifter wins her prize by taking risks, not by exchanging a piece of her life for it. Life for her is not something that must be sold away for seven or eight dollars an hour in return for survival; it is something that is hers because she takes it for herself, because she lays claim to it. In stark contrast to the law-abiding consumer, the means by which she acquires goods is as exciting as the goods themselves; and this means is also, in many ways, more praiseworthy. Shoplifting is a refusal of the exchange economy. It is a denial that people deserve to eat, live, and die based on how effectively they are able to exchange their labor and capital with others. It is a denial that a monetary value can be ascribed to everything, that having a piece of delicious chocolate in your mouth is worth exactly fifty cents or that an hour of one person's life can really be worth ten dollars more than that of another person. It is a refusal to accept the capitalist system, in which workers have to buy back the products of their own labor at a profit to the owners of capital, who thus get them coming and going. Shoplifting says NO to all the objectionable features that have come to characterize the modern corporation. It is an expression of discontent with the low wages and lack of benefits that so many exploiting corporations force their employees to suffer in the name of company profits. It is a refusal to pay for low quality products that have been designed to break or wear out soon in order to force consumers to buy more. It is a refusal to fund the environmental damage that so many corporations perpetrate heartlessly in the course of manufacturing their products and building new stores, a refusal to support the corporations that run private, local businesses into bankruptcy, a refusal to accept the murder of animals in the meat and dairy industries and the exploitation of migrant labor in the fruit and vegetable industries. Shoplifting makes a statement against the alienation of the modern consumer. "If we are not able to find or afford any products other than these, that were made a thousand miles from us and about which we can know nothing," it asserts, "then we refuse to pay for these." The shoplifter attacks the cynical mind control tactics of modern advertising. Today's commercials, billboards, even the floor—layouts and product displays in stores are designed by psychologists to manipulate potential consumers into purchasing products. Corporations carry out extensive advertising campaigns to insinuate their exhortations to consumption into every mind, and even work to make their products into status symbols that people from some walks of society eventually must own in order to be accorded respect. Faced with this kind of manipulation, the law-abiding consumer has two choices: either to come up with the money to purchase these products by selling his life away as a wage laborer, or to go without and possibly invite public ridicule as well as private frustration. The shoplifter creates a third choice of her own: she takes the products she has been conditioned to desire without paying for them, so the corporations themselves must pay for all of their propagandizing and mind control tactics. Shoplifting is the most effective protest against all these objectionable attributes of modern corporations because it is not merely theoretical—it is practical, it involves action. Verbal protests can be raised to irresponsible business practices without ever having any solid effect, but shoplifting is intrinsically damaging these corporations at the same time as it (however covertly) demonstrates dissatisfaction. It is better than a boycott, because not only does it cost the corporation money rather than just denying it profit, it also means that the shoplifter is still able to obtain the products, which she may need to survive. And in these days when so many corporations are interconnected, and so many multinationals are involved in unacceptable activity, shoplifting is a generalized protest: it is a refusal to put any cash into the economy at all, so that the shoplifter can be sure that none of her cash will ever end up in the hands of the corporations she disapproves of. In addition to that, she will have to work less for them, as well! But what about the people in the corporations? What about their welfare? First of all, corporations are distinct from traditional private businesses in that they exist as separate financial entities from their owners. So the shoplifter is stealing from a non-human entity, not directly from the pocket of a human being. Second, since so many workers are paid set wages (minimum wage, for example) that depend more on how little the corporation can get away with paying rather than on how much profit it is making, the shoplifter is not really hurting most of the workforce at any given company either. The stockholders, who are almost always far richer than your average thief, are the ones who stand to lose a little if the company suffers significant losses; but realistically, no campaign of shoplifting could be intense enough to force any of the wealthy individuals who actually profit from these companies into poverty. Besides, modern corporations have money set aside for shoplifting losses, because they anticipate them. That's correct—these corporations are aware that there is enough dissatisfaction with them and their capitalist economy that people are going to steal from them remorselessly. In that sense, shoplifters are just playing their role in society, just like C.E.O.s. More significantly, these corporations are cynical enough to go about their business as usual, even though they know this leaves many of their customers (and employees!) ready to steal anything from them that they can. If they are willing to continue doing business in this way even when they are aware how many people it alienates, they should not be surprised that people continue stealing from them.
Shoplifting is more than a way to survive in the cutthroat competition of the "free market" and protest corporate injustices. It is also a different kind of orientation to the world and to life. The shoplifter makes do with an environment that has been conquered by capitalism and industry, where there is no longer a natural world from which to gather resources and everything has become private property, without accepting it or the absurd way of life it entails. She takes her life into her own hands by applying an ancient method to the problem of modern survival: she lives by urban hunting and gathering. In this way she is able to live much as her distant ancestors did before the world was subjugated by technology, imperialism, and the irrational demands of the "free" market; and she can find the same challenges and rewards in her work, rewards that are lost to the rest of us today. For her, the world is as dangerous and as exciting as it was to prehistoric humanity: every day she is in new situations, confronting new risks, living by her wits in a constantly changing environment. For the law-abiding consumer, it is likely that every day at work is similar to the last one and danger is as sorely lacking in life as meaning and purpose are.
To shoplift is to affirm immediate, bodily desires (such as hunger) over abstract "ethics" and other such ethereal constructs, most of which are left over from a deceased Christianity anyway. Shoplifting divests commodities (and the marketplace in general) of the mythical power they seem to have to control the lives of consumers... when they are seized by force, they show themselves for what they are: merely resources that have been held by force by these corporations at the expense of everyone else. Shoplifting places us back in the physical world, where things are real, where things are nothing more than their physical characteristics (weight, taste, ease of acquisition) and are not invested with superstitious qualities such as "market value" and "profit margin." It forces us to take risks and experience life firsthand again. Perhaps shoplifting alone will not be able to overthrow industrial society or the capitalist system... but in the meantime it is one of the best forms of protest and self-empowerment, and one of the most practical, too!
Shoplifters of the world, unite!
-------
some good ideas to try: from wikipedia
Common Shoplifting Scams
[edit]
Baby Stroller Boxes
This scam involves the use of baby stroller boxes, which tend to be quite large in size. A would be shoplifter removes the stroller from the box and proceeds to conceal a large amount of merchandise inside. The would be shoplifter then reseals the box and takes it a cashier stand, where they pay the purchse price for the stroller. If the scam is successful the would be shoplifter walks out of the retailer with concealed merchandise still inside the stroller box.
[edit]
Bag Switching
Bag switching methods are generally attempted by a group of two shoplifters. Typically the first shoplifter will have a large bag and gather a large amount of merchandise quickly to get the attention of a Loss Prevention Investigator. Once the first shoplifter knows that they are being followed they will conceal the merchandise into the bag. The first shoplifter will then switch their bag with the second shoplifter, who usually has a matching bag that is already filled with items that don’t belong to the retailer. Often the Loss Prevention Investigator will miss the switch and arrest the first shoplifter. Subsequently, the first shoplifter may claim false arrest and receive a gift card from the retailer.
[edit]
Booster Boxes
A booster box is a device that allows a would be shoplifter to conceal a large quantity of merchandise on their person. Typically professional shoplifters of large girth most commonly attempt this scam. The use of booster boxes is most prevalent at clothing retailers due to the fact that clothing merchandise can easily be molded to fit better inside the box. Some professional shoplifters have been known in the past to attempt to use booster boxes to conceal electronics and DVDs.
[edit]
Cash Drawer Theft
Cash drawer theft is usually attempted by a shoplifter purchasing a low dollar item and giving the cashier a large bill or by asking a cashier to change a large bill. As the cashier is counting change the item the shoplifter will attempt to create a distraction. One such is telling the cashier that the cashier is giving the shoplifter the wrong amount of change. Once the cashier looks down to recount the change the shoplifter will reach into the cash drawer and grab what they can. The cashier then hands the shoplifter back the change and shoplifter leaves the store. Usually cash drawer theft is not detected until audits of the register are completed and show a shortage. To combat cash drawer theft many retailers will not accept bills larger than twenty dollars or will not give out change at the register.
[edit]
Counterfeit Bill Passing
Although the act of counterfeiting currency is a far more serious crime than the act of shoplifting, counterfeiters often use retail outlets to launder their fake bills and in effect are stealing merchandise at the same time. Typically, a counterfeiter will use a large denomination bill, like a fifty or a hundred, to purchase a low priced item. If the currency is accepted, the counterfeiter successfully launders the fake bill and leaves with the merchandise and legal currency as change. Most retailers require their cashiers to verify large bills with a counterfeit detection pen. However, due to poor training or when faced with long lines of customers this procedure is often disregarded.
[edit]
Fake Returns
Sometimes shoplifters will actually gather an item from the selling floor and try to receive money for it without a receipt at the return station. Although this method is not as fool proof as the receipt matching method, it is very effective particularly when done to an inexperienced cashier. Usually the shoplifter will start complaining to the cashier about their inability to return the merchandise. Typically the shoplifter will state that they lost their receipt or threaten the cashier by stating that they want to talk to their supervisor. To avoid confrontation the cashier will ring up the return and give the shoplifter dollar value of the merchandise.
[edit]
Fitting Room Bagging
Typically this scam is seen most often in large clothing retailers. This scam generally preys upon the common Loss Prevention policy prohibiting apprehension of shoplifters when concealment is not actually seen by an investigator. A would be shoplifter enters a retail establishment with a large bag. The would be shoplifter then selects a large amount of merchandise and takes it to a fitting room. Inside the would be shoplifter conceals the merchandise into the bag out of sight of store employees and store investigators.
[edit]
Gift Card Cloning
In this scam, a normal store gift card with no value attached is stolen from a store. The shoplifter then clones the magnetic strip on the back of the gift card and makes a copy or copies of it. The original gift card is then returned the store by the shoplifter. The gift card is activated once purchased by another customer, and the dollar amount applied to the legitimate gift card is passed to all the cloned gift cards.
[edit]
Grab and Run
A common shoplifting techinique is known by the Loss Prevention community as a "grab and run." Simply put, a shoplifter enters a retail establishment usually with prior knowledge of what they are looking for. The shoplifter moves very quickly toward the merchadise they wish to steal. Once the shoplifter has found the merchandise they proceed to the nearest store exit, usually running. Due to the short time that shoplifter is inside the store persons who attempt this scam are rarely caught, or in some cases even detected.
Less common is for a group of people to rush a store and grab as much merchandise as possible and then rush out. The speed with which this happens and the large numbers of people involved make it difficult to stop.
[edit]
The Milkshake Subterfuge
A less common shoplifting technique used for smaller high-dollar items is the milkshake subterfuge. A milkshake is purchased by the shoplifter and taken into the store. The shoplifter proceeds to drop small heavy items like jewellery into the milkshake. On leaving the store their milkshake is unlikely to be searched. Shoplifters using this method must be wary of drinking too much of their milkshake or the items will be revealed in the bottom of their cup.
[edit]
Metal-lined Clothing or Containers
Metal-lined sacks, containers, or clothing (such as aluminum foil-lined undergarments) allow a would-be shoplifter to shield the RFID tags attached to merchandise concealed on their person from the scanners at the door of a store. 2001 Colorado House Bill 01-1221 made it a misdemeanor to possess, use, or know about and fail to report others who possess RFID shielding devices with intent to foil anti-shoplifting devices.
[edit]
Other Return Tricks
Sometimes would be shoplifters attempt to return packages to a retailer that contain no merchandise, a used item, or in some cases things like bricks. This scam is aimed at inexperienced or naive cashiers, in hopes that they will not check the package during the return. When successful, the fake return is usually not discovered for several hours.
[edit]
Receipt Matching
The receipt matching scam involves using receipts to match merchandise codes from the receipt to items in found in a store. Most retailers use company specific merchandise codes on their merchandise so store personnel can identify the location more quickly and efficiently. Additionally the merchandise is used to verify merchandise that was purchased at a particular retailer during a return. This information is printed onto the receipts of purchased merchandise.
Typically shoplifters will search either retailer’s parking lot or trashcans looking for receipts that have a high dollar item on it. The shoplifter then enters the store and compares the code on the receipt to the codes printed on the merchandise in the store. Once the shoplifter finds a match they will take the merchandise to the return area and receive money for. Typically, to avoid detection, shoplifters will use a piece of paper with the merchandise code they are looking for written on it.
[edit]
Self-checkout scam
At some larger retailers, such as Wal-Mart, customers have the option of using self-checkout lanes, in which customers do not interact with employees at all when making purchases but check themselves out at a computer. Customers are expected to scan the items that they wish to purchase, insert payment for the scanned items, then bag the items and leave the store. Shoplifters have been known to purchase small items with these machines, and place additional items in their bags without paying for them. Many shoplifters intentionally act slightly confused when using these machines, and act as if they are attempting to scan the item which they wish to steal, so that, if confronted, they can claim that they took the additional items by mistake.
[edit]
Shopping Cart Magic
Shopping cart tricks are often disregarded by Loss Prevention personnel. Typically, older or professional shoplifters usually attempt this scam. The scam works in the following way: when the shoplifter first enters the store, they locate an empty shopping cart. The shoplifter finds the item they are looking for and typically place on the bottom or under the baby seat. The shoplifter then continues to gather a small dollar amount of merchandise and places it in the shopping cart. The shoplifter then brings the shopping cart to register and removes all the merchandise with the exception of the item they wish to steal. If the cashier is not paying attention the shoplifter will usually be able to get the merchandise past them without much effort. After paying for the smaller dollar items the shoplifter leaves the store and successfully pulls off the scam. The most prevalent method used to combat this scam is the use of door personnel who are trained to ask for receipts for high dollar and un-bagged merchandise.
[edit]
Shopping Cart Passing
Shopping cart passing is usually attempted by a two-person group of shoplifters. The first shoplifter will gather the desired merchandise into a shopping cart and take it to the register. The cashier will then ring up all the merchandise and place it in bags. Once the total is rung up, the first shoplifter states that they forgot their wallet in their car. The first shoplifter will then exit the store and most cashiers will put the shopping cart off to the side and resume ringing up customers. At this point, the second shoplifter moves in and grabs the cart and walks out of the store with the stolen merchandise in bags.
[edit]
Ticket Switching
Ticket switching is among the oldest shoplifting scams that retailers have faced. Typically, the shoplifter finds an item on clearance and removes the clearance tag. The shoplifter then finds a high dollar item and applies the clearance tag to it. The shoplifter then brings the high dollar item to an unsuspecting cashier and pays for it at a clearance price. Most retailers today now utilize electronic barcodes that when scanned will ring up the correct price. Usually, when the shoplifter challenges the price a cashier supervisor will refuse to ring up the item at the clearance price. Some more clever shoplifters are now utilizing modern printing and digital technology to copy low dollar bars codes for retail merchandise packages. These shoplifters then print bar code labels that will actually ring up at cashier registers.
[edit]
Out the Wrong Door
This method requires a common outside door with two diverging doors from the vestibule: one for an entrance (which is not usually supervised) and one for an exit. Two people enter the store. One person retrieves merchandise from the selling floor. When this person is ready to leave the store, he waits at the entrance door. The other person walks around to the exit, walks into the vestibule and activates the entrance door on the way out, and the person with the merchandise also leaves. Sometimes the second person will just distract the cashiers while the person with the merchandise waits for some unknowing customer to enter the store and activate the entrance door.
anyway, here's some stuff on it:
http://www.crimethinc.com/library/english/libdays.html
Why I Love Shoplifting
from big corporations
Nothing compares to the feeling of elation, of burdens being lifted and constraints escaped, that I feel when I walk out of a store with their products in my pockets. In a world where everything already belongs to someone else, where I am expected to sell away my life at work in order to get the money to pay for the minimum I need to survive, where I am surrounded by forces beyond my control or comprehension that obviously are not concerned about my needs or welfare, it is a way to carve out a little piece of the world for myself—to act back upon a world that acts so much upon me. It is an entirely different sensation than the one I feel when I buy something. When I pay for something, I'm making a trade; I'm offering the money that I bought with my labor, my time, and my creativity for a product or service that the corporation wouldn't share with me under any other circumstances. In a sense, we have a relationship based on violence: we negotiate an exchange not according to our respect or concern for each other, but according to the forces that we can bring to bear on each other. Supermarkets know they can charge me a dollar for bread because I will starve if I do not buy it from them; they know they can't charge me four dollars, because I will go somewhere else. So our interaction revolves around unspoken threats, rather than love, and I am forced to give up something of my own to get anything from them . Everything changes when I shoplift. I'm no longer negotiating with faceless, inhuman entities that have no concern for my welfare; instead, I'm taking what I need without giving anything up. I no longer feel like I am being forced into an exchange, and I no longer feel as if I have no control over the way the world around me dictates my life. I no longer have to worry about whether the pleasure I receive from the book I purchased was equal to the two hours of labor it cost me to be able to afford it. In these and a thousand other ways, shoplifting makes me feel liberated and empowered. Let's examine what shoplifting has to offer as an alternative way of life.
The shoplifter wins her prize by taking risks, not by exchanging a piece of her life for it. Life for her is not something that must be sold away for seven or eight dollars an hour in return for survival; it is something that is hers because she takes it for herself, because she lays claim to it. In stark contrast to the law-abiding consumer, the means by which she acquires goods is as exciting as the goods themselves; and this means is also, in many ways, more praiseworthy. Shoplifting is a refusal of the exchange economy. It is a denial that people deserve to eat, live, and die based on how effectively they are able to exchange their labor and capital with others. It is a denial that a monetary value can be ascribed to everything, that having a piece of delicious chocolate in your mouth is worth exactly fifty cents or that an hour of one person's life can really be worth ten dollars more than that of another person. It is a refusal to accept the capitalist system, in which workers have to buy back the products of their own labor at a profit to the owners of capital, who thus get them coming and going. Shoplifting says NO to all the objectionable features that have come to characterize the modern corporation. It is an expression of discontent with the low wages and lack of benefits that so many exploiting corporations force their employees to suffer in the name of company profits. It is a refusal to pay for low quality products that have been designed to break or wear out soon in order to force consumers to buy more. It is a refusal to fund the environmental damage that so many corporations perpetrate heartlessly in the course of manufacturing their products and building new stores, a refusal to support the corporations that run private, local businesses into bankruptcy, a refusal to accept the murder of animals in the meat and dairy industries and the exploitation of migrant labor in the fruit and vegetable industries. Shoplifting makes a statement against the alienation of the modern consumer. "If we are not able to find or afford any products other than these, that were made a thousand miles from us and about which we can know nothing," it asserts, "then we refuse to pay for these." The shoplifter attacks the cynical mind control tactics of modern advertising. Today's commercials, billboards, even the floor—layouts and product displays in stores are designed by psychologists to manipulate potential consumers into purchasing products. Corporations carry out extensive advertising campaigns to insinuate their exhortations to consumption into every mind, and even work to make their products into status symbols that people from some walks of society eventually must own in order to be accorded respect. Faced with this kind of manipulation, the law-abiding consumer has two choices: either to come up with the money to purchase these products by selling his life away as a wage laborer, or to go without and possibly invite public ridicule as well as private frustration. The shoplifter creates a third choice of her own: she takes the products she has been conditioned to desire without paying for them, so the corporations themselves must pay for all of their propagandizing and mind control tactics. Shoplifting is the most effective protest against all these objectionable attributes of modern corporations because it is not merely theoretical—it is practical, it involves action. Verbal protests can be raised to irresponsible business practices without ever having any solid effect, but shoplifting is intrinsically damaging these corporations at the same time as it (however covertly) demonstrates dissatisfaction. It is better than a boycott, because not only does it cost the corporation money rather than just denying it profit, it also means that the shoplifter is still able to obtain the products, which she may need to survive. And in these days when so many corporations are interconnected, and so many multinationals are involved in unacceptable activity, shoplifting is a generalized protest: it is a refusal to put any cash into the economy at all, so that the shoplifter can be sure that none of her cash will ever end up in the hands of the corporations she disapproves of. In addition to that, she will have to work less for them, as well! But what about the people in the corporations? What about their welfare? First of all, corporations are distinct from traditional private businesses in that they exist as separate financial entities from their owners. So the shoplifter is stealing from a non-human entity, not directly from the pocket of a human being. Second, since so many workers are paid set wages (minimum wage, for example) that depend more on how little the corporation can get away with paying rather than on how much profit it is making, the shoplifter is not really hurting most of the workforce at any given company either. The stockholders, who are almost always far richer than your average thief, are the ones who stand to lose a little if the company suffers significant losses; but realistically, no campaign of shoplifting could be intense enough to force any of the wealthy individuals who actually profit from these companies into poverty. Besides, modern corporations have money set aside for shoplifting losses, because they anticipate them. That's correct—these corporations are aware that there is enough dissatisfaction with them and their capitalist economy that people are going to steal from them remorselessly. In that sense, shoplifters are just playing their role in society, just like C.E.O.s. More significantly, these corporations are cynical enough to go about their business as usual, even though they know this leaves many of their customers (and employees!) ready to steal anything from them that they can. If they are willing to continue doing business in this way even when they are aware how many people it alienates, they should not be surprised that people continue stealing from them.
Shoplifting is more than a way to survive in the cutthroat competition of the "free market" and protest corporate injustices. It is also a different kind of orientation to the world and to life. The shoplifter makes do with an environment that has been conquered by capitalism and industry, where there is no longer a natural world from which to gather resources and everything has become private property, without accepting it or the absurd way of life it entails. She takes her life into her own hands by applying an ancient method to the problem of modern survival: she lives by urban hunting and gathering. In this way she is able to live much as her distant ancestors did before the world was subjugated by technology, imperialism, and the irrational demands of the "free" market; and she can find the same challenges and rewards in her work, rewards that are lost to the rest of us today. For her, the world is as dangerous and as exciting as it was to prehistoric humanity: every day she is in new situations, confronting new risks, living by her wits in a constantly changing environment. For the law-abiding consumer, it is likely that every day at work is similar to the last one and danger is as sorely lacking in life as meaning and purpose are.
To shoplift is to affirm immediate, bodily desires (such as hunger) over abstract "ethics" and other such ethereal constructs, most of which are left over from a deceased Christianity anyway. Shoplifting divests commodities (and the marketplace in general) of the mythical power they seem to have to control the lives of consumers... when they are seized by force, they show themselves for what they are: merely resources that have been held by force by these corporations at the expense of everyone else. Shoplifting places us back in the physical world, where things are real, where things are nothing more than their physical characteristics (weight, taste, ease of acquisition) and are not invested with superstitious qualities such as "market value" and "profit margin." It forces us to take risks and experience life firsthand again. Perhaps shoplifting alone will not be able to overthrow industrial society or the capitalist system... but in the meantime it is one of the best forms of protest and self-empowerment, and one of the most practical, too!
Shoplifters of the world, unite!
-------
some good ideas to try: from wikipedia
Common Shoplifting Scams
[edit]
Baby Stroller Boxes
This scam involves the use of baby stroller boxes, which tend to be quite large in size. A would be shoplifter removes the stroller from the box and proceeds to conceal a large amount of merchandise inside. The would be shoplifter then reseals the box and takes it a cashier stand, where they pay the purchse price for the stroller. If the scam is successful the would be shoplifter walks out of the retailer with concealed merchandise still inside the stroller box.
[edit]
Bag Switching
Bag switching methods are generally attempted by a group of two shoplifters. Typically the first shoplifter will have a large bag and gather a large amount of merchandise quickly to get the attention of a Loss Prevention Investigator. Once the first shoplifter knows that they are being followed they will conceal the merchandise into the bag. The first shoplifter will then switch their bag with the second shoplifter, who usually has a matching bag that is already filled with items that don’t belong to the retailer. Often the Loss Prevention Investigator will miss the switch and arrest the first shoplifter. Subsequently, the first shoplifter may claim false arrest and receive a gift card from the retailer.
[edit]
Booster Boxes
A booster box is a device that allows a would be shoplifter to conceal a large quantity of merchandise on their person. Typically professional shoplifters of large girth most commonly attempt this scam. The use of booster boxes is most prevalent at clothing retailers due to the fact that clothing merchandise can easily be molded to fit better inside the box. Some professional shoplifters have been known in the past to attempt to use booster boxes to conceal electronics and DVDs.
[edit]
Cash Drawer Theft
Cash drawer theft is usually attempted by a shoplifter purchasing a low dollar item and giving the cashier a large bill or by asking a cashier to change a large bill. As the cashier is counting change the item the shoplifter will attempt to create a distraction. One such is telling the cashier that the cashier is giving the shoplifter the wrong amount of change. Once the cashier looks down to recount the change the shoplifter will reach into the cash drawer and grab what they can. The cashier then hands the shoplifter back the change and shoplifter leaves the store. Usually cash drawer theft is not detected until audits of the register are completed and show a shortage. To combat cash drawer theft many retailers will not accept bills larger than twenty dollars or will not give out change at the register.
[edit]
Counterfeit Bill Passing
Although the act of counterfeiting currency is a far more serious crime than the act of shoplifting, counterfeiters often use retail outlets to launder their fake bills and in effect are stealing merchandise at the same time. Typically, a counterfeiter will use a large denomination bill, like a fifty or a hundred, to purchase a low priced item. If the currency is accepted, the counterfeiter successfully launders the fake bill and leaves with the merchandise and legal currency as change. Most retailers require their cashiers to verify large bills with a counterfeit detection pen. However, due to poor training or when faced with long lines of customers this procedure is often disregarded.
[edit]
Fake Returns
Sometimes shoplifters will actually gather an item from the selling floor and try to receive money for it without a receipt at the return station. Although this method is not as fool proof as the receipt matching method, it is very effective particularly when done to an inexperienced cashier. Usually the shoplifter will start complaining to the cashier about their inability to return the merchandise. Typically the shoplifter will state that they lost their receipt or threaten the cashier by stating that they want to talk to their supervisor. To avoid confrontation the cashier will ring up the return and give the shoplifter dollar value of the merchandise.
[edit]
Fitting Room Bagging
Typically this scam is seen most often in large clothing retailers. This scam generally preys upon the common Loss Prevention policy prohibiting apprehension of shoplifters when concealment is not actually seen by an investigator. A would be shoplifter enters a retail establishment with a large bag. The would be shoplifter then selects a large amount of merchandise and takes it to a fitting room. Inside the would be shoplifter conceals the merchandise into the bag out of sight of store employees and store investigators.
[edit]
Gift Card Cloning
In this scam, a normal store gift card with no value attached is stolen from a store. The shoplifter then clones the magnetic strip on the back of the gift card and makes a copy or copies of it. The original gift card is then returned the store by the shoplifter. The gift card is activated once purchased by another customer, and the dollar amount applied to the legitimate gift card is passed to all the cloned gift cards.
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Grab and Run
A common shoplifting techinique is known by the Loss Prevention community as a "grab and run." Simply put, a shoplifter enters a retail establishment usually with prior knowledge of what they are looking for. The shoplifter moves very quickly toward the merchadise they wish to steal. Once the shoplifter has found the merchandise they proceed to the nearest store exit, usually running. Due to the short time that shoplifter is inside the store persons who attempt this scam are rarely caught, or in some cases even detected.
Less common is for a group of people to rush a store and grab as much merchandise as possible and then rush out. The speed with which this happens and the large numbers of people involved make it difficult to stop.
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The Milkshake Subterfuge
A less common shoplifting technique used for smaller high-dollar items is the milkshake subterfuge. A milkshake is purchased by the shoplifter and taken into the store. The shoplifter proceeds to drop small heavy items like jewellery into the milkshake. On leaving the store their milkshake is unlikely to be searched. Shoplifters using this method must be wary of drinking too much of their milkshake or the items will be revealed in the bottom of their cup.
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Metal-lined Clothing or Containers
Metal-lined sacks, containers, or clothing (such as aluminum foil-lined undergarments) allow a would-be shoplifter to shield the RFID tags attached to merchandise concealed on their person from the scanners at the door of a store. 2001 Colorado House Bill 01-1221 made it a misdemeanor to possess, use, or know about and fail to report others who possess RFID shielding devices with intent to foil anti-shoplifting devices.
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Other Return Tricks
Sometimes would be shoplifters attempt to return packages to a retailer that contain no merchandise, a used item, or in some cases things like bricks. This scam is aimed at inexperienced or naive cashiers, in hopes that they will not check the package during the return. When successful, the fake return is usually not discovered for several hours.
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Receipt Matching
The receipt matching scam involves using receipts to match merchandise codes from the receipt to items in found in a store. Most retailers use company specific merchandise codes on their merchandise so store personnel can identify the location more quickly and efficiently. Additionally the merchandise is used to verify merchandise that was purchased at a particular retailer during a return. This information is printed onto the receipts of purchased merchandise.
Typically shoplifters will search either retailer’s parking lot or trashcans looking for receipts that have a high dollar item on it. The shoplifter then enters the store and compares the code on the receipt to the codes printed on the merchandise in the store. Once the shoplifter finds a match they will take the merchandise to the return area and receive money for. Typically, to avoid detection, shoplifters will use a piece of paper with the merchandise code they are looking for written on it.
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Self-checkout scam
At some larger retailers, such as Wal-Mart, customers have the option of using self-checkout lanes, in which customers do not interact with employees at all when making purchases but check themselves out at a computer. Customers are expected to scan the items that they wish to purchase, insert payment for the scanned items, then bag the items and leave the store. Shoplifters have been known to purchase small items with these machines, and place additional items in their bags without paying for them. Many shoplifters intentionally act slightly confused when using these machines, and act as if they are attempting to scan the item which they wish to steal, so that, if confronted, they can claim that they took the additional items by mistake.
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Shopping Cart Magic
Shopping cart tricks are often disregarded by Loss Prevention personnel. Typically, older or professional shoplifters usually attempt this scam. The scam works in the following way: when the shoplifter first enters the store, they locate an empty shopping cart. The shoplifter finds the item they are looking for and typically place on the bottom or under the baby seat. The shoplifter then continues to gather a small dollar amount of merchandise and places it in the shopping cart. The shoplifter then brings the shopping cart to register and removes all the merchandise with the exception of the item they wish to steal. If the cashier is not paying attention the shoplifter will usually be able to get the merchandise past them without much effort. After paying for the smaller dollar items the shoplifter leaves the store and successfully pulls off the scam. The most prevalent method used to combat this scam is the use of door personnel who are trained to ask for receipts for high dollar and un-bagged merchandise.
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Shopping Cart Passing
Shopping cart passing is usually attempted by a two-person group of shoplifters. The first shoplifter will gather the desired merchandise into a shopping cart and take it to the register. The cashier will then ring up all the merchandise and place it in bags. Once the total is rung up, the first shoplifter states that they forgot their wallet in their car. The first shoplifter will then exit the store and most cashiers will put the shopping cart off to the side and resume ringing up customers. At this point, the second shoplifter moves in and grabs the cart and walks out of the store with the stolen merchandise in bags.
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Ticket Switching
Ticket switching is among the oldest shoplifting scams that retailers have faced. Typically, the shoplifter finds an item on clearance and removes the clearance tag. The shoplifter then finds a high dollar item and applies the clearance tag to it. The shoplifter then brings the high dollar item to an unsuspecting cashier and pays for it at a clearance price. Most retailers today now utilize electronic barcodes that when scanned will ring up the correct price. Usually, when the shoplifter challenges the price a cashier supervisor will refuse to ring up the item at the clearance price. Some more clever shoplifters are now utilizing modern printing and digital technology to copy low dollar bars codes for retail merchandise packages. These shoplifters then print bar code labels that will actually ring up at cashier registers.
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Out the Wrong Door
This method requires a common outside door with two diverging doors from the vestibule: one for an entrance (which is not usually supervised) and one for an exit. Two people enter the store. One person retrieves merchandise from the selling floor. When this person is ready to leave the store, he waits at the entrance door. The other person walks around to the exit, walks into the vestibule and activates the entrance door on the way out, and the person with the merchandise also leaves. Sometimes the second person will just distract the cashiers while the person with the merchandise waits for some unknowing customer to enter the store and activate the entrance door.