TikTok Attorney Warns You Of Self-Checkout Scam
Imagine going to jail for using the self-checkout kiosk? Well, an attorney is warning about this potential scam.
If you go into a grocery store, you almost immediately realize that majority of them have a self-checkout. To cut costs of employees working checkout lines, they get more self-checkout kiosks to replace them. But is this necessarily a good thing for customers?
Yes, it makes things faster. But you do all the work and usually on your way out, there are one or two employees checking on you to make sure you’re not stealing anything from them. Other than it can be a little quicker, that’s pretty much the only perk to self-checkout. But why could it be bad for you?
This Is A Warning
Her name is Carrie Jernigan. Who is she? Carrie is a criminal defense attorney that is on TikTok. Carrie likes to weigh in on current cases that hits the news. She also lets her followers know of anything that could potentially hurt them physically or financially. She recently posted a TikTok video of her warning her followers to STOP using self-serve checkouts at stores.
Jernigan told 7 News in Australia that shoppers should not use and avoid self-serve kiosks “unless you are ready and willing to go to jail.” Now most would wonder why. They have someone there watching you. Yes, if you’re dishonest, you could easily steal something and most likely get away with it. But that’s it right there. It gives you the option to try to get away with stealing one item in your shopping cart. But it could also get you in trouble, even if you didn’t steal an item and were completely honest.
@carriejernigan1 Reply to @afamily20202 I have no idea why it cut off
♬ original sound - LAWYER CARRIE
Who And How Does It Affect You
In her TikTok video, Carrie states there are three types of people who could be charged with stealing from a self-checkout. The first group of people are the shoplifters who do it on a regular basis. Second group are the ones who steal items “by mistake,” she says. And the third group are the people who genuinely forgot to scan an item.
She says the stores don’t really care which group you’re in. Stores may have cut back on checkout employees, but they still have people who monitor video footage of the self-checkouts. At the end of the day when inventory is done, and something doesn’t add up, they will go to the tapes to see who stole from them. That’s where it gets tricky. If you legitimately forgot to scan something and got out of the store without any stoppage, you may have gotten away with a mistake, but a charge could come your way later on down the road. You may have not stolen anything and actually paid for everything in your cart, but if the video looks like you may have stolen something, they may come after you.
How To Protect Yourself From This Happening To You
Carrie tells her 1.4 million followers to not pay with cash at the self-checkout kiosks. Using cash will make it much harder to show or prove you actually paid for an item. Instead, she urges people to use a debit or credit card to pay. Also keep your receipts she says. If you are in fact contacted at a later date and are being accused of stealing, your receipt and card payment can be used as proof.
Her series on this has attracted millions of views so far. And what she’s saying is absolutely true. Will you be more cautious now at self-checkouts?
We have more on this story in today’s edition of a Few Things You Should Know!