Woman robbed at self-checkout counter warns others to watch out for old ladies at supermarkets

Although technology has made everything from payments to shopping and even doing taxes more convenient, it has opened doors to the scams that hit people in the most unexpected places. Self-checkout counters may have enabled people to quickly swing in and out of grocery stores, but people are being conned in the most unexpected ways out there. Rachel Evana–who goes by @rachelevana on TikTok–found herself in a similar situation when she was robbed at the self-checkout of a Food Lion store. To her surprise, the person who stole money from her also turned out to be an old lady, prompting her to warn others by sharing the experience online.

Evana Begins the video by remarking, "So I got conned at Food Lion by an old lady," before describing how her family went to the store quite late at night on a Friday to get groceries. Evana was about to pay for the groceries when her oldest daughter remembered something she wanted. "My oldest daughter, 14… wanted some bronzing sunscreen. So I was like, 'I'm not paying for that because it's probably $15.'" The mom added, "She went to go see the price and she [came] back and [said] it was $8.99. So I was like, 'Hmm, we can do that.'" But when they finally went to the price counter, the sunscreen was $11.99, not $8.99. She talked to the employee and figured out that her daughter had taken sunscreen from a shelf next to the $8.99 one.

"I finished scanning everything. I put in our phone number and we noticed our total come down from $170 to $ 163 [after discounts]." She continued, "So I knew that number in my head, that it was $163." Evana further explained, "So I walk away—I tap my phone first, I do the Tap to Pay. I put in my [PIN] and then I turn around to tell my husband, 'Hey, finish this up 'cause I'm going to go show Katie how to look at the prices on things so she doesn't do this again and she knows for when she spends her own money.'"

When she returned, her husband showed her a notification on his watch. "He was like, 'Hey, why did I get charged $203?' I was just like, 'That's not right. It was definitely $163.'" When she asked to see the receipt and confirm the bill, her husband told her he didn't get it at the self-checkout. Evana spotted an old lady at the same self-checkout they had used. "The old lady that used our same little checkout thing. I [went] over to her and I was like, 'Excuse me. Did that print a receipt?' And she's like, 'No, it didn't print a receipt. There was nothing.' And I was like, 'Hmm, that's weird.'" Evana immediately called an employee to raise an issue and the old lady stood beside her throughout the conversation.

"I watch her pay for her stuff. She [got] her receipt and she [looked] right at me—right in my eyes—and was like, 'Oh! Well, it printed my receipt. There must not be anything wrong with it,'" the woman continued. "At that moment, I didn't know. I didn't know that she had robbed me. I really just thought she was a sweet old lady." The family went back home. "I'm at home, chilling. Then I realize $203. The total was 163. That's $40. How would there be $40 even? So then I was like, 'Oh my gosh! I think that Cody did not finish the transaction and then that old lady hit $40 cashback, […] took our money, and left!'" the mom remarked as realization dawned upon her. 

The couple went back to talk about this with the store manager and the $40 cashback was there as Evana had thought. The couple and the manager went through surveillance and the woman's assumption turned out to be spot on. Although Evana got her money back from Food Lion, she concluded by saying, "You gotta watch out for [those] old ladies at Food Lion, people. Don't let their cute little faces fool you, 'cause they'll get you."

You can follow Rachel Evana (@rachelevana) on TikTok for more lifestyle content.