A LAWYER who warned of the risks of using self-checkout has shared four rules to avoid being accused of theft.
Carrie Jernigan is an attorney on TikTok who shares her expertise with viewers, including shopping tips.
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In a recent video, Carrie followed up on her previous warning about the dangers of self-checkout.
The attorney initially said that even if you don’t intentionally steal while using the counter, Walmart can still track you.
This situation applies not only to Walmart, but to every major department store.
She claims stores will try to snare old customers when they check lost inventory, even months after the item has left the premises.
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Aside from that, Carrie had four tips for people who may find themselves in a bad situation after mindlessly using self-checkout.
“Do not use the self-checkout for large grocery orders. They just want trouble,” Carrie said.
“Only use it if you plan to buy a few items that day.”
Carrie also advised against using cash at self-checkouts so you can keep track of your paper purchases.
“Use your debit or credit card in case you need to show proof of what you paid for later,” Carrie said.
She advised also keeping your receipt as additional proof of purchase.
“Fourth, when scanning, be slow and intentional,” Carrie said.
“Nowadays there are cameras in many places. When I use self-checkout, I literally show what I’m scanning and scan it slowly.”
Carrie said there are three groups of people who are at risk of getting into big trouble at self-checkout.
“The first group of people to be charged with self-checkout shoplifting are people who go into stores to steal,” Carrie said.
“The second group of people who take up this charge, I will call accidental theft. These are the people I really think just forgot to scan an item.”
She continued, “Usually it was something that was on the bottom shelf of the car, or let’s say a DVD that slipped under the purse and when they go out, property protection stops them.”
The last group of people will be attacked after leaving the store. They get into trouble when the store starts looking for lost inventory.
“It’s something that, for example, asset protection does quality control or inventory falls short weeks, days, months later,” Carrie explained.
She continued, “So they’re going to start watching videos for hours to see the last person who checked out with the Mario Lego set because they’re too small, or an Xbox game, and for some reason they say exactly that they believe you did it.”
So how are these stores getting away with this?
“Because of who these big department stores are, they usually have very little evidence to present to get an affidavit or warrant signed,” Carrie said.
What happens if they get an affidavit or warrant signed?
“The charges that could land you in jail for up to a year are filed, and then you’re fighting for your life trying to figure out what day you went to Walmart and everything you bought,” Carrie said .
“You have to spend thousands of dollars hiring a lawyer and we have to go through grainy video footage to figure out everything you bought that day,” she warned.
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Carrie said the charges are often dropped once a lawyer can prove her client didn’t steal.
However, you have now run out of thousands of dollars and a lot of time and energy is wasted.
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