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$1.5 Million Bar-code Scheme Bilks Wal-Mart Stores
nomrniceguy writes "Two couples have been charged in a
price-switching scheme that allegedly defrauded Wal-Mart stores in 19 states of $1.5 million over the last decade.
Authorities said the scheme involved using a home computer to produce UPC bar codes for cheaper products and slipping them over the real codes on high-priced items. The suspects then allegedly sold the merchandise, or returned it for refunds or store gift cards that also were sold."
Have you been to a WalMart?
The people that work there are not like in the commericals, they are just scaning you product, waiting till it's there chance to die.
Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate
One would assume it would be pretty hard for your Joe Sixpack to go out and just print these things willy-nilly.
All you need is a barcode printer and some software which are publicly available for a few hundred dollars, like from these guys. Get a UPC number off a pack of chewing gum and put the sticker on a mountain bike. The hard part is finding a checker who won't notice. I can't figure out that one.
I think the cashier would notice you paying for the plasma TV with a $5 bill. That's what differentiates dumb criminals, and the ones you don't usually find out about. You don't swap the code from a $1 item with 1 $3000 item. You take the sticker off a 17 inch lcd, and put it on a 19 inch one. I wouldn't even put the sticker on there permanently. It just has to be the first sticker the cashier sees. Once it's scanned, get rid of the evidence. Walmart is the perfect place to do this. They sell everything, and pay their people nothing, so the cashier will likely not have a clue what you are doing.
By replacing the barcode, you are not saying "I will pay $5 for this microwave oven", you are saying "This microwave oven is a bottle of soda".
I suppose the same argument could apply -- the customer service representative agrees that the oven is a bottle of soda -- but you can't argue that you are offering a lower price for the item because barcodes identify what an item is and not how much an item costs.
At first, I was just disgusted at these people who decide to scam the system the best they can and for as much as they can. When I saw they'd be getting 8-whatever years for this, I felt a little better.
Then I see people posting on tips how to do this more efficiently, how they have done it at Home Despot, Best Buy, and so on, and I wonder...
Are these the same people that think downloading movies and music is just fine? How are you justifying this, since every thief I know has some way to justify it.
They charge too much, therefore it is right of you to systematically lower the price via a UPC swap?
You couldn't afford it, therefore it is right of you to systematically lower the price via a UPC swap?
You wouldn't have bought it at such a high price, it is right of you to systematically lower the price via a UPC swap?
So, by stealing an item for a lower price, you're driving up the price of the rest of their inventory. You can now justify their high prices by requiring them to set the prices higher to account for loss, the loss you have created. Nice job.
Everyone has some kind of justification, I bet these criminals had some as well. They did not want to work, found the system easy to exploit, and wanted free money... what better reason is there really? Sure, they are "innocent until proven guilty" I suppose.
I'm not sure if it's the lack of morals, or just the lack of brainpower that causes such things. Self-justification of stealing is still just stealing and it makes me sick.