The cashiers from Ladybug and Lidla admitted how people cheated at the cash register. announcement this 1 detail

Self-service cash registers were to be a revolution in trade – a way to unload queues, increase the capacity of stores and offer customers greater autonomy. Introduced on a massive scale by networks specified as Ladybug and LidlThey rapidly became a standard. Unfortunately, with their popularity, they besides became a field of show for dishonest customers who found dozens of ways to trick machines and, consequently, to steal. store workers who observe the phenomenon on a regular basis admit anonymously that the scale of the problem is enormous. They point to One seemingly innocent detail, which became the foundation of the most popular method of fraud – the minute erstwhile the client reaches for weighted products.

The “veg” method, or the fraud on which the device is built

It is this detail, which the cashiers point to, that is the heart of the most widely utilized trickle. This is about knowingly misleading the weighing strategy of self-service cash registers, especially erstwhile buying bulk products which do not have bar codes – mainly vegetables, fruits, but besides candy or cookies per weight.

How does this mechanics work? Imagine the situation that cashiers see many times during the day. The client approaches the cash registry with the cart, which contains costly products, for example avocados, blueberries, raspberry tomatoes or cashew nuts. It puts them on the weight, but on the contact screen, alternatively of choosing the right product, it intentionally indicates 1 of the cheapest available articles specified as onions, potatoes or cheapest apples. The machine, without the anticipation of visual verification, trusts the customer's choice and charges a fee per kilogram of costly nuts at the price of a kilogram of potatoes. The price difference may scope several twelve or even respective 100 percent.

This 1 item – moment of product selection on contact screen – is key. The cheaters feel impunityless due to the fact that they do all the required activities from a method point of view: they weigh and pay for the goods. The problem is, they pay a grossly low wage. It's a simple, fast and, in many ways, a hard to detect method that generates gigantic losses for the commercial networks.

Not just vegetables. another popular fraud methods

Although the vegetable method is the most popular, the creativity of unfair customers knows no boundaries. Cashiers from Ladybugs and Lidla indicate a full scope of another tricks:

• ‘Seal’ on barcodes: More impudent cheaters prepare to bargain already at home or on the premises of the store, printing or stripping bar codes from inexpensive products (e.g. mineral water) and sticking them to costly articles (e.g. alcohols, brand cosmetics or electronics).
• ‘One for all’: Method utilized for products in multipacks, e.g. beer, yogurt or drinks. The cheat scans only 1 product from a four-pack or a six-pack, and the remainder packs into a bag, hoping that the weight in the packing area will not detect discrepancies.
• On intent ‘forget’: any of the products are decently scanned, while the most costly “accidentally” articles stay in the cart or basket and do not hit the weight or the scanner. The cheat pays for tiny purchases and tries to leave the store with the remainder of the merchandise.
• Use of strategy errors: Sometimes customers take advantage of an chance erstwhile the weighing strategy is decalibrated or erstwhile the product has not yet been entered into the database, resulting in a deletion error.

"We see all this." How do cashiers exposure frauds?

Contrary to the belief of many crooks, their actions are not invisible. Each area of self-service cash registers shall be supervised by at least 1 worker who, on a peculiar tablet or monitor, sees all transactions in real time. These systems are increasingly advanced.

The assistant cashier sees, among another things:

• Security camera over all cash register.
• A list of scanned products.
• Alerts with weight differences (e.g. erstwhile the strategy expects the weight of a light product, and something much heavier comes to the weight).
• Information on cancelled transactions or deleted products.

The cashiers admit they already have an intuition. They pay attention to nervous looking around customers, blocking products with your body, avoiding eye contact Or different acquisition sequences. An experienced worker, seeing on the screen that individual has placed a fruit net on the scale, and has chosen the option ‘onion’, has a full right to approach and ask for verification of purchases.

From shame to sentence. What's the punishment for cheating on the money?

The consequences of catching in the red act are far more serious than just having to pay the difference in price. Any specified action shall be treated as attempted theft. The further course depends on the value of the stolen goods.

Currently, the threshold between offence and crime is 800 zł.

• Stealing under PLN 800: This is offencefor which a fine of up to PLN 500, detention or restrictions on freedom. The case usually ends with a police call and a ticket on the spot.
• Robbery over PLN800: It's already there. offencewho are facing imprisonment 3 months to 5 years. The case goes to court and the conviction ends with an entry into National Criminal RegisterWhich could ruin the professional future.

Regardless of the amount, any intervention involves large shame, a call for protection, and frequently the police, which is simply a public humiliation.

The phenomenon of fraud on self-service cash registers is simply a fascinating phenomenon from a intellectual and technological perspective. Many people feel that cheating a heartless device is not as immoral as stealing from another man. The mechanics works here. Distribution of responsibility And a sense of anonymity. any consider it a game or a form of “recovery” money from large, wealthy corporations.

However, commercial networks do not stay passive. A technological arms race is underway. Ladybug, Lidl and another stores are investing in increasingly modern systems. investigating solutions based on Artificial Intelligence (AI)where cameras over the box office automatically admit the weighed product and compare it with the customer's choice on the screen. Any discrepancy will be immediately flag and reported to the user. It's only a substance of time before the vegetable fraud becomes virtually impossible. By that time, however, a key component of the safety strategy remains the watchful eye of the cashiers, who, knowing the tricks of customers, stand on the front line of the fight against store theft.