Walmart security cameras are no joke. The cameras can apparently catch even the smallest of customers’ scanning mistakes at self-checkout. In 2024, one pregnant customer said the police were called on her after the cameras caught her forgetting to scan $10 prenatal vitamins.
The store has even been accused of keeping tabs on repeat offenders.
So it’s no surprise that when a man went to Walmart to check on the status of his job application, he says he was shown a video of himself stealing.
In the short, 7-second clip, @babyslea_yy stands at what appears to be Walmart’s customer service desk. Two employees behind the counter appear to be in conversation with each other when one of them points to the TikToker. It’s unclear what they are saying, but the TikToker aims to explain in the text overlay of his video.
“POV went to Walmart to Check On My Application But the G’Manager Showed a Video Of Me Stealing!!” he wrote.
“They Ain’t Have to Do Me like that,” the TikToker captioned the video.
The video is the only one on @babyslea_yy’s account. So far, it has over 1 million views.
@babyslea_yy They Ain’t Have to Do Me like that”#capcutvelocityสปีดสโลว์ ♬ WTHELLY – Rob49
Should you avoid self-checkout?
Viewers urged @babyslea_yy to “leave and never” return to the store out of concern he is going to get in more severe trouble now that Walmart has all of his information through his job application. “Tell them to just take out of your pay until you paid it back,” another viewer quipped.
In the past, Walmart workers have warned customers against stealing because of how good the cameras are. “I’ve learned working at Walmart that literally everything is recorded,” one Redditor shared in a discussion on the WalmartEmployees subreddit.
Walmart has only been ramping up anti-theft measures in recent years. According to SecurityTagsStore, Walmart launched its AI-powered “missed scan detection” at self-checkout kiosks in 2017. The technology can reportedly catch small items that customers mistakenly forgot to scan.
Some customers have sworn off using Walmart self-checkout for this very reason. They say the risk of making a simple mistake and getting in trouble for it is too high.
The Daily Dot reached out to both @babyslea_yy via email and to Walmart via media contact form.
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