A lawyer on TikTok is advising viewers to avoid self-checkout, saying that some retailers are targeting them for loss prevention even in cases where nothing has been stolen.
Carrie Jernigan, an Arkansas-based criminal defense attorney, shares in her video that large retailers had previously been lenient on shoplifters and those who accidentally take something without paying for it. However, as shoplifters have gotten better at stealing more expensive items, Jernigan says stores are cracking down.
Her warning video received over 1.7 million views on the platform as of Saturday.
Jernigan broke the people she has seen get charged with shoplifting into three categories. The first two are those who intend to shoplift and those who do so unintentionally.
“The first group of people getting charged with shoplifting using the self-checkout are people going into the stores with the intent to steal,” Jernigan says. “The second group of people catching this charge, I will call the theft-by-mistake. These are the people that I genuinely think just forgot to scan an item. It is usually something that was on the bottom rack of the cart or say a DVD that has slid under the purse, and when they are walking out, asset protection stops them.”
The third group of people, Jernigan said, are targeted by a retailer long after they have gone to the store, often when inventory comes up short.
“It is something that, say, asset protection is doing a quality control check or inventory weeks,...
You don't have permission to access "http://biz.chosun.com/en/en-policy/2026/05/13/2HN2WQNDIBDIHAYG2WCLNSLBYU/" on this server. Reference #18.9e033817.1778664023.2326d3f https://errors.edgesuite.n...