Slashdot Mirror


SAP VP Arrested In False Barcode Scheme

redletterdave writes "With barcode scanning being so commonplace, nothing seemed out of the ordinary when Thomas Langenbach, the vice president of SAP, was found scanning boxes upon boxes of Lego toys before purchasing them. Little did anyone know, the 47-year-old Silicon Valley executive was actually engaged in a giant scam. Langenbach would visit several Target stores and cover the store's barcodes with his own, so when he would bring the boxes up to the register, Langenbach would pay a heavily-discounted price. For example, this tag swapping allowed him to buy a Millennium Falcon box of Legos worth $279 for just $49. Once he bought the discounted Lego boxes, the SAP executive would take to eBay (under the name 'tomsbrickyard') and sell the items. Langenbach reportedly sold more than 2,000 items on eBay, raking in about $30,000. He was finally caught by Target security on May 8, and he was arraigned on Tuesday on four counts of burglary."

8 of 535 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Common Sense by MickyTheIdiot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So you expect the drones at the cash register to know the prices of a billion different store items? You'd be tough to work for...

  2. Because he needed the cash? by Nursie · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Surely VP of SAP doesn't need to be doing that?

    Some sort of mental illness of thrill-seeking?

  3. Re:Common Sense by Rockoon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Which part of $8/hour confuses you?

    Work just enough not to get fired, paid just enough not to quit.

    --
    "His name was James Damore."
  4. The sad thing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    He'll get off easier than some kid downloading a couple songs.

  5. Re:Giant scam? by Bill+Dimm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How does this compare to the ongoing financial scams being perpetrated on all of us?

    Totally different ... he got arrested.

  6. Re:Common Sense by PPalmgren · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I should know I use to be one and I was the "odd man out" that would notice these things and say something.

    (emphasis added)

    I see this line of thinking a lot, and there's a key factor people tend to forget. There's a reason you've moved on to bigger and better things, and a reason some people continue to do that menial work for a decade. When you hire low wage employees for a while, you begin to realize that any "good find" won't be there for long, because they're meant for something more important.

  7. Re:He was too ambitious by wjousts · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Except it's not a translation of the word of God, but a translation of a bunch of superstitious middle-eastern tribesmen from 2000 odd years ago (or more).

  8. Re:Common Sense by hairyfeet · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think the bigger questions are "WTF was the VP of SAP doing pulling a cheap ass eBay scam like what your average meth head would pull? Is he a kelpto? Is the company in trouble? Is his pay THAT shitty?" These questions sound more relevant to me than how long he was able to pull this shit off.

    Because frankly go to any Walmart at rush hour and the checkout girls ain't looking at shit, they are just rushing that shit across the scanner as fast as they can to try to lower the lines. Frankly I wouldn't be surprised that if in most of these chains they probably get bitched at if the line gets too long so looking at what the scanner pulls up is probably the last thing on their minds.

    --
    ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.