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Walmart sign composite and Dylan Rockwell mugshot via Caldwell Police Department, Wiki Commons/MikeMozartJeepersMedia
Images via Caldwell Police Department, Wiki Commons/MikeMozartJeepersMedia

‘We appreciate your creativity’: Ingenious ‘barcode ring’ Walmart theft scam uncovered in Idaho

An Idaho man's arrest highlights self-checkout problems, and major retailers are listening.

Look, don’t do crime — but if you do, at least make it creative. That’s according to the Caldwell, Idaho Police Department in an Instagram post, referring to a recent case where someone was arrested for cleverly cheating a local Walmarts self-checkout station.

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According to the Caldwell PD, 32-year-old Idaho man Dylan Rockwell was arrested on Feb. 2 this year after he admitted he used a ring with a tomato soup barcode inscribed on it to steal several items from his local Walmart. In the scam, Rockwell brought more expensive items to the self-checkout area but scanned the soup barcode instead. Caldwell police say he got caught after leaving Walmart with a $300 grill which he scanned into the register as a can of soup, typically costing less than $1.

It’s unclear how Walmart staff caught on to Rockwell’s ruse, but Caldwell police say they responded to calls of a robbery in progress at the Walmart location and tracked Rockwell to his residence, where he admitted everything and said he’d done it before. While there, police recovered the grill. Rockwell was arrested without incident and booked on felony burglary charges at Canyon County Jail and held on a $25,000 bond. He’s expected to appear in court on Feb. 13.

Referring to Rockwell’s barcode-ring scam, Caldwell Chief of Police Rex Ingram said on Instagram, “Sorry Mr. Rockwell, your tactics didn’t work this time but we appreciate your creativity. We know that times are tough but your ingenuity got you some county soup for dinner.”

Research shows self-checkout and theft go hand-in-hand

via Caldwell Police Department/Instagram

News of Rockwell’s arrest came around the same time major retailers like Walmart announced they were scaling back self-checkout for several reasons, including theft. “Not only is it easy to steal from self-checkout machines, it can be hard not to steal from them,” Thomas Germain wrote for Gizmodo last year.

Germain added, “Shoppers are reportedly 21 times more likely to sneak items past machines than human cashiers, but consumers also constantly steal unintentionally because the self-checkout process can be so cumbersome.”

A 2023 Lending Tree survey revealed that 69% of respondents said self-checkout made stealing easier, 15% said they said they’ve stolen something on purpose in self-checkout, and 44% said they’d do it again.

LendingTree chief credit analyst Matt Schulz said, “Ultimately, retailers need to decide whether the self-checkout terminals are worth the risk. Sure, they can help the store save money because fewer people are needed to check out customers. The question, however, is whether that savings outweighs the potential uptick in theft.”

Similarly, self-checkout problems and the temptation for theft were noticed on social media stories about the Caldwell “barcode ring” case. According to one comment, a Walmart location near that person “doesn’t use their $50k in self-checkouts during their busiest times because everyone steals. Lines are hour-plus.”

Another added, “Walmart sent a friend a $250 [Blackstone Grill]. Leg was dented and they sent him a new one [and] didn’t want dented one back. Dented one cooks just fine on my deck… Walmart don’t care … I just don’t scan things…”

 


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Author
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William Kennedy
William Kennedy is a full-time freelance content writer and journalist in Eugene, OR. William covered true crime, among other topics for Grunge.com. He also writes about live music for the Eugene Weekly, where his beat also includes arts and culture, food, and current events. He lives with his wife, daughter, and two cats who all politely accommodate his obsession with Doctor Who and The New Yorker.