Listen up, Walmart patrons! One TikTok user is urging shoppers to keep an eye out for a self-checkout scam that could potentially cost you hundreds of dollars if you’re not careful. And we’re not talking about the alleged price-gouging that people have reported happening at stores in the past, or the new surcharge on delivery orders. Instead, this one has to do with a sneaky charge for pre-paid cards that could find its way onto your receipt.
That’s right: A man who goes by @eddiestrange45 on TikTok says he recently almost paid nearly double what he intended to because someone swiped a gift card at his self-checkout register before he rang up his own items. Find all the details below.
@eddiestrange45I almost got Scammed @ walmart easy scam to pull off dont let it happen 2 you♬ original sound – eddiestrange45
Walmart prepaid card self-checkout scam
Using the self-checkout kiosks at Walmart can be a great way to save time (or just keep social contact to a minimum if you’re not feeling up f0r an interaction with a cashier). However, @eddiestrange45 says you should be sure that no one is trying to pull the wool over your eyes by ringing up a gift card at the kiosk, leaving without paying for it, and hoping you’ll pay for it without noticing while you’re checking out.
“I just want everyone to be careful and look out at Walmart,” he states at the beginning of his video. Eddie says he recently went to Walmart for some simple groceries that should have only cost him around $55. But after he scanned everything, he noticed the total was much higher, at a whopping $130.
When he called an employee over to try to get to the bottom of the issue, something suspicious happened. "She comes over, opens up my screen, and deletes something on the very top that said 'Card,'" he says, noting that the employee double-checked that he hadn't purchased a pre-paid card.
"Somebody probably swiped a card before you got here and left," Eddie remembers the employee explaining.
This isn't the first time someone has spoken out about this self-checkout scam. Another shopper told a similar story back in January.
Eddie says he later realized what had happened: "You can buy these cards and put money on them," he explained, using video game cards, with which people can make in-game purchases, as an example. "Somebody swiped their card and left the store, and if I come in and buy $500 worth of groceries, I'm not going to realize that there's an extra $75 charge," he goes on. "People are obviously walking in, swiping their card, and putting an amount on it... and you just paid money to their card without your knowledge." Yikes!
While anyone could have attempted this scam, Eddie and commenters think the employee may have had something to do with it. "If nobody's around, she goes over and swipes the card," he speculates. "If you see a discrepancy and say something, she helps you out, and she's off the hook either way."
"If she watched you and went right to it and deleted it quick, she did it. No question," one commenter wrote.
"The fact that she knew exactly what to delete without checking your bags says everything," another echoed.
One person offered some good advice: "Clear the screen as soon as you start."
Ultimately, though, people are fed up with the scams (like this one) that seem to be relentless. "I'm sick and tired of all the scams and scammers out there!" a user said. "Thank you for the tip!"
"Just saying, when you go to Wal-Mart and you go to the self-checkout, watch your money," Eddie concludes.
