Over $30,000 worth of Transformers Toys and DVD sets Seized in Alberta Bust

Oh wow that's right where I am! (Lethbridge)

This is some interesting news indeed.

Take that, Scalper Scum!

So police auction when?

But yeah, holy scrap that's a big haul!

Nemesis Maximo wrote:Take that, Scalper Scum!

My thoughts exactly.

What? No Titans Return wave 5? Pffft........AMATUER!

I remember a story about a guy who stole tone of Lego sets in order to launder money. What he did was putting UPC-scan code stickers over the original ones of the Lego sets. Items that were much cheaper that scanned for a fraction of the price. Then he resold the sets via Ebay and such. His crimes finally ended when a cashier that cared a little bit more than usual about the job noticed something was amiss.

Lego sets is (or was) also a hot commodity to launder drug money or stolen credit cards. So when buying from a scalper, beware. The scalper may be an even bigger douchebag than you think.

Take that asshole scalper!

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!!! Scalper gets what he deserves.

I work in the cash register side of POS and this is very interesting to me. Mostly I wonder what tools (on the retail side) the police used to link all this together.

Self check out usually has a weight check verification to verify what was scanned versus what it should weigh. Seems a barcode swap would rule that out real quick unless someone went to a cashier. Going to a cashier seems pretty ballsy, and requires the cashier to not care or be paying attention.

Some retailers use AI software via their camera systems to tag suspicious transactions/scans (or non scans). The software uses image recognition to match up what was scanned with what the camera sees. It can also recognize items not being scanned or left in the shopping cart.

I'd have to assume the retailers noticed a pattern and reported it to the authorities first? I can't even imagine the amount of work that went into this investigation. Well, good job

Nemesis Maximo wrote:Take that, Scalper Scum!

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:Take that asshole scalper!

Cyber Bishop wrote:Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!!! Scalper gets what he deserves.

Scalper nothing, his supposed acquisition methods make him nothing more than a common thief.

carytheone wrote:I work in the cash register side of POS and this is very interesting to me. Mostly I wonder what tools (on the retail side) the police used to link all this together.

Self check out usually has a weight check verification to verify what was scanned versus what it should weigh. Seems a barcode swap would rule that out real quick unless someone went to a cashier. Going to a cashier seems pretty ballsy, and requires the cashier to not care or be paying attention.

Some retailers use AI software via their camera systems to tag suspicious transactions/scans (or non scans). The software uses image recognition to match up what was scanned with what the camera sees. It can also recognize items not being scanned or left in the shopping cart.

I'd have to assume the retailers noticed a pattern and reported it to the authorities first? I can't even imagine the amount of work that went into this investigation. Well, good job

I have no clue how he pulled this off. Canadian Walmarts do indeed deal with weight. Plus, I thought there was a mechanism where it rings when you leave with a non scanned item and the original bar code remains unscanned in any case.

However, I did hear of this scam in the past with Legos in the US: https://www.vocativ.com/underworld/crim ... index.html

And... that's why I never liked the whole 'self checkout thing'. It's greedy on the part of the retailer. Pay a person to do that job. I refuse to use them. But there will come a day when there will be no humans on the floor and I'll have no choice.

Starting to think that I employ more folks with I on-line shop...

william-james88 wrote:

carytheone wrote:I work in the cash register side of POS and this is very interesting to me. Mostly I wonder what tools (on the retail side) the police used to link all this together.

Self check out usually has a weight check verification to verify what was scanned versus what it should weigh. Seems a barcode swap would rule that out real quick unless someone went to a cashier. Going to a cashier seems pretty ballsy, and requires the cashier to not care or be paying attention.

Some retailers use AI software via their camera systems to tag suspicious transactions/scans (or non scans). The software uses image recognition to match up what was scanned with what the camera sees. It can also recognize items not being scanned or left in the shopping cart.

I'd have to assume the retailers noticed a pattern and reported it to the authorities first? I can't even imagine the amount of work that went into this investigation. Well, good job

I have no clue how he pulled this off. Canadian Walmarts do indeed deal with weight. Plus, I thought there was a mechanism where it rings when you leave with a non scanned item and the original bar code remains unscanned in any case.

However, I did hear of this scam in the past with Legos in the US: https://www.vocativ.com/underworld/crim ... index.html

Are you talking about the buzzer at the door? Those tags get deactivated at the front end. Typically the deactivation device are always on, so you could just run any item over them and deactivate the tag. Some fancier ones turn on after a scan and then turn off. Either way the typical security tags are not item specific and just get deactivated by a big ass electromagnet. Can't tell you how many of those I've pulled out of stores that bought used check stands. They weigh a ton and are built like a tank.

Once the technology is perfected, expect to see stores running either on fully RF IDs or just image recognition (the latter way more likely). There are several test/pilot stores on the west coast. Companies like Amazon will probably be the first to bring the "no check out" experience to mass market.

Theft is a constant battle at retail and a sizable chunk is internal. Eliminating theft and employees are high up on the wish list of most retailers. Most Walmart Supercenters I visit now have at least 30 self checkouts. Some of which have no weight checks. Eliminating that many employees (salary and benifits) can afford you a few dishonest customers. Unfortunately that's exactly the sales pitch of self checkout units. Think about that the next time you check yourself out at Walmart in the 10 lane self checkout corral with only one employee watching them all.

carytheone wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

carytheone wrote:I work in the cash register side of POS and this is very interesting to me. Mostly I wonder what tools (on the retail side) the police used to link all this together.

Self check out usually has a weight check verification to verify what was scanned versus what it should weigh. Seems a barcode swap would rule that out real quick unless someone went to a cashier. Going to a cashier seems pretty ballsy, and requires the cashier to not care or be paying attention.

Some retailers use AI software via their camera systems to tag suspicious transactions/scans (or non scans). The software uses image recognition to match up what was scanned with what the camera sees. It can also recognize items not being scanned or left in the shopping cart.

I'd have to assume the retailers noticed a pattern and reported it to the authorities first? I can't even imagine the amount of work that went into this investigation. Well, good job

I have no clue how he pulled this off. Canadian Walmarts do indeed deal with weight. Plus, I thought there was a mechanism where it rings when you leave with a non scanned item and the original bar code remains unscanned in any case.

However, I did hear of this scam in the past with Legos in the US: https://www.vocativ.com/underworld/crim ... index.html

Are you talking about the buzzer at the door? Those tags get deactivated at the front end. Typically the deactivation device are always on, so you could just run any item over them and deactivate the tag. Some fancier ones turn on after a scan and then turn off. Either way the typical security tags are not item specific and just get deactivated by a big ass electromagnet. Can't tell you how many of those I've pulled out of stores that bought used check stands. They weigh a ton and are built like a tank.

Once the technology is perfected, expect to see stores running either on fully RF IDs or just image recognition (the latter way more likely). There are several test/pilot stores on the west coast. Companies like Amazon will probably be the first to bring the "no check out" experience to mass market.

Theft is a constant battle at retail and a sizable chunk is internal. Eliminating theft and employees are high up on the wish list of most retailers. Most Walmart Supercenters I visit now have at least 30 self checkouts. Some of which have no weight checks. Eliminating that many employees (salary and benifits) can afford you a few dishonest customers. Unfortunately that's exactly the sales pitch of self checkout units. Think about that the next time you check yourself out at Walmart in the 10 lane self checkout corral with only one employee watching them all.

One of my local ones has an extra layer of "defense": a security officer at the exit. Not always there, but when he is, he'll scan the bar code either on your receipt or the Walmart app and some bigger items you have bought.

I fail to see the effectiveness of that.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

carytheone wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

carytheone wrote:I work in the cash register side of POS and this is very interesting to me. Mostly I wonder what tools (on the retail side) the police used to link all this together.

Self check out usually has a weight check verification to verify what was scanned versus what it should weigh. Seems a barcode swap would rule that out real quick unless someone went to a cashier. Going to a cashier seems pretty ballsy, and requires the cashier to not care or be paying attention.

Some retailers use AI software via their camera systems to tag suspicious transactions/scans (or non scans). The software uses image recognition to match up what was scanned with what the camera sees. It can also recognize items not being scanned or left in the shopping cart.

I'd have to assume the retailers noticed a pattern and reported it to the authorities first? I can't even imagine the amount of work that went into this investigation. Well, good job

I have no clue how he pulled this off. Canadian Walmarts do indeed deal with weight. Plus, I thought there was a mechanism where it rings when you leave with a non scanned item and the original bar code remains unscanned in any case.

However, I did hear of this scam in the past with Legos in the US: https://www.vocativ.com/underworld/crim ... index.html

Are you talking about the buzzer at the door? Those tags get deactivated at the front end. Typically the deactivation device are always on, so you could just run any item over them and deactivate the tag. Some fancier ones turn on after a scan and then turn off. Either way the typical security tags are not item specific and just get deactivated by a big ass electromagnet. Can't tell you how many of those I've pulled out of stores that bought used check stands. They weigh a ton and are built like a tank.

Once the technology is perfected, expect to see stores running either on fully RF IDs or just image recognition (the latter way more likely). There are several test/pilot stores on the west coast. Companies like Amazon will probably be the first to bring the "no check out" experience to mass market.

Theft is a constant battle at retail and a sizable chunk is internal. Eliminating theft and employees are high up on the wish list of most retailers. Most Walmart Supercenters I visit now have at least 30 self checkouts. Some of which have no weight checks. Eliminating that many employees (salary and benifits) can afford you a few dishonest customers. Unfortunately that's exactly the sales pitch of self checkout units. Think about that the next time you check yourself out at Walmart in the 10 lane self checkout corral with only one employee watching them all.

One of my local ones has an extra layer of "defense": a security officer at the exit. Not always there, but when he is, he'll scan the bar code either on your receipt or the Walmart app and some bigger items you have bought.

I fail to see the effectiveness of that.

A deterrent to keep us honest chumps inline

Some of the stores I support in sketchy neighborhoods hire security guards (typically off duty cops), but shoplifting prevention is not their main objective...

Good thing he got shut down before he could profit on it.

carytheone wrote:Some of the stores I support in sketchy neighborhoods hire security guards (typically off duty cops), but shoplifting prevention is not their main objective...

We have police at my local one too, but we suspect they only care about parking violations and directing traffic (lots of one-way lanes).

carytheone wrote:Some of the stores I support in sketchy neighborhoods hire security guards (typically off duty cops), but shoplifting prevention is not their main objective...

All of my local walmarts now employ people up front to scan your receipt and check some of your items. It's annoying and not really helpful

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

carytheone wrote:Some of the stores I support in sketchy neighborhoods hire security guards (typically off duty cops), but shoplifting prevention is not their main objective...

All of my local walmarts now employ people up front to scan your receipt and check some of your items. It's annoying and not really helpful

That is annoying and I think I've seen a few WMs doing that. Reminds me of Sam's Club.

People are always going find a way to chest the system and confidence goes a long way to not being questioned. If you act like you belong or are doing something on the up and up, people tend to just accept it. Being someone who operates behind the scenes, I can confirm this 100%. I'm so used to walking into warehouses and back offices I have to mentally police myself when I'm at non-customer sites.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

carytheone wrote:Some of the stores I support in sketchy neighborhoods hire security guards (typically off duty cops), but shoplifting prevention is not their main objective...

All of my local walmarts now employ people up front to scan your receipt and check some of your items. It's annoying and not really helpful

Just have the receipt or app screen ready upon leaving the register, and have the bigger items and/or their bar codes readily accessible. Minor inconvenience, but you'll be fine if you do that.

Mine were friendly enough, some small talk as he does his work, maybe I just got lucky

carytheone wrote:Theft is a constant battle at retail and a sizable chunk is internal.

I have a good story about that, and Walmart. One person I bought Transformers from told me to meet him at a Walmart since he would be working there that day. Turns out he was in charge of internal theft and would set up hidden cameras in stores but just to monitor employees and then offer evidence when they'd get fired over it. He had just finished firing 3 employees before meeting me.

But back to what you were saying Cary, I just had a hard time believing how in all our modern tech world, it seems someone can still just take a boxed tf from the shelf and just walk out the door with no alarm going off.

It would cost too much to put alarm triggers on everything. Only high value items or the ones that are stolen too often get tagged. So the thieves just target the unprotected low value items.

It hurts everyone though. The retailer, the employees and the customer. Because those retailers depends on volume sales to make a profit. And for each stolen items, 20 or 50 must be sold.

william-james88 wrote:

carytheone wrote:Theft is a constant battle at retail and a sizable chunk is internal.

I have a good story about that, and Walmart. One person I bought Transformers from told me to meet him at a Walmart since he would be working there that day. Turns out he was in charge of internal theft and would set up hidden cameras in stores but just to monitor employees and then offer evidence when they'd get fired over it. He had just finished firing 3 employees before meeting me.

But back to what you were saying Cary, I just had a hard time believing how in all our modern tech world, it seems someone can still just take a boxed tf from the shelf and just walk out the door with no alarm going off.

Things my be different in Canada, but I've never once seen a small/hidden security tag on any Transformers I've bought at Target or Walmart.

I have seen randomly at TRU the security devices that are usually on electronics on the really large expensive figures like Fort Max.

If you had the courage and no one sees you, you could walk right out with a TF. Now they all have door greeters, but I rarely if ever get stopped or they're distracted with other customers and just walk by them. I know I paid for my stuff, so why wait if not asked.

So someone could take a TF to the front, slip it in a bag at one of the many un-manned checkouts and walk right out the door. This goes back to confidence, act like you own it or are doing nothing wrong and it's very unlikely you'll get questioned. With that said, everything will be caught on camera, once out the door all they have is evidence after the fact. It's very rare anyone monitors cameras in real time unless they have a reason to watch a person. Act normal and no one pays any mind.

The expectation is that most people follow the rules and those that don't will act suspicious. I've seen a good bit of security footage and those expeditions hold true most of the time.

carytheone wrote:If you had the courage and no one sees you and you have a warped sense of morality, you could walk right out with a TF.

Fixed that for you there. I know you are talking practical/factual sense but I do want to remind people that this conversation is not about tips about how to get away with any of this. It should go without saying that theft is not condoned.

william-james88 wrote:

carytheone wrote:If you had the courage and no one sees you and you have a warped sense of morality, you could walk right out with a TF.

Fixed that for you there. I know you are talking practical/factual sense but I do want to remind people that this conversation is not about tips about how to get away with any of this. It should go without saying that theft is not condoned.

Thanks and good call.

I am absolutely not giving tips nor do I encourage or condone theft in any way or form

red lasers, blue lasers

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:All of my local walmarts now employ people up front to scan your receipt and check some of your items. It's annoying and not really helpful

Not only is it annoying, it is inconsistent, and technically you can just walk out, a scan is not required. I always play along though, sometimes they scan my items, sometimes they don't, sometimes in between sitters, nobody will be there. Sometimes people just walk around them as others are being scanned.

Those of you may remember my rants about a certain Walmart that took anti-theft devices to a ridiculous levels as they literally chained reissue Original Optimus Primes to the shelves. Well that same Walmart is getting even more ridiculous. Over the counter medications, batteries, all shaving supplies, and Mens underwear are among the newest items to be locked up.

In fact the last time I was in there I must have heard customer service calls to various different *lock up* locations over a dozen times.

Yeah i want to be the guy with all the keys that does nothing more than go from station-to-station unlocking things all-day .

I understand they want to mitigate theft, but when I go shopping for my mom once a week I want it done as fast as possible, (we do grocery pick-up now for ourselves, but my mom is not tech savvy) I don't want to wait 15 minutes just for some punk kid to look at me sideways why I'm asking for Senior Woman's vitamins.

william-james88 wrote:

carytheone wrote:If you had the courage and no one sees you and you have a warped sense of morality, you could walk right out with a TF.

Fixed that for you there. I know you are talking practical/factual sense but I do want to remind people that this conversation is not about tips about how to get away with any of this. It should go without saying that theft is not condoned.

I'd also like to point out that there's nothing more shameful than getting caught with a shoplifted item when you have a pile of dollars bills in your wallet...

I'm not proud of young me.

Some times safety measures are required at the self service checkouts. My store i work at always has a 1 person monitoring the 7 registers. We don't sell toys (only retailer food and stuff like that) but our registers are mostly accurate about weight scan and even detect if unregistered weight such as a cellphone is accidently put onto the weight area.

This makes for a good deterrent if we had not toys not registering as correct weight and price in the system.
How that crook got through, that was shady business.

william-james88 wrote:

carytheone wrote:Theft is a constant battle at retail and a sizable chunk is internal.

I have a good story about that, and Walmart. One person I bought Transformers from told me to meet him at a Walmart since he would be working there that day. Turns out he was in charge of internal theft and would set up hidden cameras in stores but just to monitor employees and then offer evidence when they'd get fired over it. He had just finished firing 3 employees before meeting me.

But back to what you were saying Cary, I just had a hard time believing how in all our modern tech world, it seems someone can still just take a boxed tf from the shelf and just walk out the door with no alarm going off.

I knew a couple of people in my high school in Calgary who got away with stealing things from places like Walmart from time to time.

They only took smaller things like trading cards and such but what they would do is they would go to the stores in groups of I think 5 and have two people watching on guard on either side of the aisle, then the others would kinda stand over the "main guy" who would use a knife to scratch off bar codes and such before putting the items in his backpack.

One of them actually gave me a birthday gift they had acquired from this uh method, a Deluxe class Prime Dead End, I only figured out after the matter weeks later when I noticed the back of the figures packaging had the knife scratches. (I keep the packaging such as card backs, I don't throw them out)

I don't know if they were ever caught since I moved from the city in the middle of grade 11.

carytheone wrote:I work in the cash register side of POS and this is very interesting to me. Mostly I wonder what tools (on the retail side) the police used to link all this together.

Self check out usually has a weight check verification to verify what was scanned versus what it should weigh. Seems a barcode swap would rule that out real quick unless someone went to a cashier. Going to a cashier seems pretty ballsy, and requires the cashier to not care or be paying attention.

Some retailers use AI software via their camera systems to tag suspicious transactions/scans (or non scans). The software uses image recognition to match up what was scanned with what the camera sees. It can also recognize items not being scanned or left in the shopping cart.

I'd have to assume the retailers noticed a pattern and reported it to the authorities first? I can't even imagine the amount of work that went into this investigation. Well, good job

I'm not sure what the hourly wage is for a retail cashier is in Alberta Canada, but if it's close to what it is here in the USA, then it's understandable (not excusable) why the cashier didn't pay any attention to what was being scanned. Especially if the thief checked out when it was busy and it was a long line behind him. If that's the case, the cashier was in a hurry to check the thief out before other customers start complaining. "Scan everything, take their money, and get them out the door" is the standard policy.