Man Wanted For Stealing Thousands From Walmart In Self-Checkout Lanes Using Viral TikTok Hack
TikTok may be the how-to-thieve guide of the future.
A man in Georgia is wanted by police after allegedly stealing thousands of dollars from various Walmart locations. He has been pulling off the alleged crimes using a hack that he learned through TikTok.
According to 'Fox 5 Atlanta,' the TikTok video has shown many how to trick self-checkout machines at Walmart into giving cash back to customers.
He is not the only person to have performed the viral hack. Many throughout the country have successfully given it a try, ultimately costing the store chain millions in revenue. The programming that allowed this scam to operate has since been fixed.
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The man in question did not try this once. It is believed that he has run this scam at various Walmart locations throughout the state of Georgia from Peachtree City, Fayetteville, and Newnan.
Police have amassed some identifying information about the suspect. They have determined that he is in his late 20s or early 30s. He has dreadlocks and drives a white BMW Series 7.
While authorities are still looking for the alleged scammer, the event calls into question the rise of scams that are being advised by influencers on the TikTok. Back in 2021, 'VICE' dove deeply into the world of "ScamTok."
TikTok has worked tirelessly to remove scamming videos off of the platform.
"The safety and wellbeing of our community is a top priority. Our Community Guidelines make clear that we do not allow content that promotes or enables criminal activities," a spokesperson for social media app said, according to the outlet. "Through a combination of technology and human moderation, we remove content that breaches these guidelines. Following an investigation, we banned several accounts for breaking our rules."
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However, within three years, "ScamTok" videos are still an issue. Influencers go viral sharing "hacks" with their followers that are — when put into practice — in fact criminal offenses.
The platform is continuously working to limit the amount of this content that is being shared.
Georgia police say the man, who allegedly "tricked" the machines into giving him extra cash, has not been caught. Anyone with information is encouraged to reach out to authorities.
