Woman secretly swapped price tags at her local Target 30 times in 3 years. Then a single $0.59 purchase finally did her in

Shoplifting does not always mean stealing an item from a store. Thelma Grant thought no one would notice her switching barcodes while shopping at her local Target. On August 9, 2023, the Loss Prevention officer finally called the cops after reviewing 32 barcode-switching incidents and finding that she had avoided paying around $2,400 in taxes. Grant was finally caught after getting away with it for three years. She started the con in 2020, but a small white plastic cup in 2023 got her arrested. The video was shared on BlueLine Archive on September 12, 2026, and has since received 221,509 views, 8,000 likes, and 923 comments.

Waited for the last point of sale

The most surprising part was that after almost three years of getting away with it, Grant was charged with one misdemeanor. She was caught trying to make a $59.26 purchase. The bodycam footage showed police officers and the Loss Prevention officer monitoring Grant's "shopping." She had been in the store for more than 30 minutes while they waited for her to pay and leave. The officer explained that they were waiting for the "last point of sale" to establish that she never intended to pay the proper price. It would also prevent Grant from claiming false arrest.

Shopping for plastic cups and bowls

As per the clip, Grant grabbed a bunch of 50-cent plastic cups and bowls, then switched the sticky barcodes onto the items she planned to buy. While she was at the checkout counter, the officers came in and put her in handcuffs in front of other shoppers. While she obliged, she kept asking, "What did I do?" When they got to the room, they confronted her about her actions. She vehemently denied stealing or shoplifting and claimed she came to the store to return some pajamas, but her Chime app was not working.

The victim card did not work

Grant demanded the officers explain why they arrested her and threw a fit when they accused her of shoplifting. She claimed she was ready to fight them in court and that she was going to sue Target and the officers for the arrest. But when she realized she was not going to get away with it, she flipped the script. She begged the officer and the property manager to let her go. I have nobody to get me out of the bond. Not only having this charge on me, I can't go to work tomorrow," she pleaded to the officers. In the end, she offered to pay for the items, but it was too late. 

Self-checkout fraudsters

Not everyone goes shopping with the intent to steal. Research from the ECR Loss Group, cited by Everseen, revealed that 52% of retail shrinkage was accidental, but the remaining 48% was malicious. Another study cited on BarKoder found that 20% of retail shrinkage was due to self-checkout systems, which allowed shoppers to switch barcodes and commit scanning fraud. Lastly, a report by Maptitude in 2021 found that $68.89 billion in goods were lost by retailers all over the U.S, while Capital One Shopping predicted $55 billion in losses by 2028. 

On the internet forever

Viewers commended the officers on doing their job and criticized Grant's reaction to being arrested. @BarbaraBrownCDN wrote, "Well, ma'am, if you were stealing in front of everyone, I don't see why you shouldn't be arrested in front of everyone." @luvsupreme added, "Her indignation deserves an Academy Award or at least a participation trophy."

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