Walmart Customer Shamelessly Films Herself Shoplifting During Self-Checkout

A Walmart customer shamelessly filmed herself shoplifting at the self-checkout and getting caught by the company’s AI-powered cameras — but she still posted the embarrassing clip on TikTok.

“POV: When you usually don’t get caught and now you’re banned for 2 years from every Walmart in my area,” TikToker Nesha wrote of the video which has over 2.2 million views views.

The clips show the woman scanning and bagging a few items through a Walmart store’s self-checkout system and pretending to scan a backpack before putting it in her bag without ringing the barcode.

The computer screen soon lights up with a pop-up notification saying “An associate is on the way,” preventing them from scanning additional items or making payment.

When an employee arrives and scans their card, the screen changes to a “Missed Scan Detected” message that includes an overhead video recording of the customer sliding the backpack over the scanning area without scanning the barcode.

Nesha then points her camera at the employee who covers her mouth as she laughs.

“Even though she laughed…she called the principal, the police and had us escorted out,” Nesah wrote in the caption alongside “#stealinggonewrong.”

About 15% of shoppers admitted to deliberately stealing one or a few items from self-checkouts — of those, only 33% were arrested, according to a 2023 LendingTree survey.

Walmart has strengthened its anti-shoplifting measures because it reportedly loses about $3 billion a year to theft, according to Gitnux. Artificial intelligence is one of the tools the Arkansas-based retail giant has introduced in recent years to catch would-be thieves.

“Missed scan detection” uses AI-powered cameras to reduce theft and inventory loss and was first implemented in Walmart stores starting in 2017, according to Business Insider.

Most recently, the megastore chain implemented nearly invisible barcodes on its branded items that allow items to be scanned as they pass through the scanning area without the need to directly scan a unique barcode.

The new technology is part of a $3 million deal with Digimarc.

But even with the additional measures, some Walmart stores experienced high levels of theft and self-checkout areas were removed altogether. However, the company said it was part of a broader move to improve the “in-store shopping experience”.

In a statement to the Post, a Walmart spokesperson said the company “does not publicly disclose safety measures in our stores.”