Sainsbury’s is grappling with coupon fraud at its self-checkout machines, with TikTok accounts sharing reusable money-off coupons that are being used to reduce basket bills to next to zero.
Dubbed ‘the Sainsbury’s method’ it is understood screenshots of specific, genuine coupons are being scanned over and over in a single transaction, meaning users pay pennies for their baskets.
TikTok accounts are sharing videos of the ‘coupon hack’ in action. In one, a shopper is challenged by a Sainsbury’s member of staff telling them “If it’s a frauded coupon how is it on the Sainsbury’s app?”. The encounter gets heated as the shopper states: “I’m recording for my safety and your safety” adding “if you touch me I’m gonna knock you out”.
Several TikTok accounts are requesting followers add them on social platform Discord or Snapchat and be sent the reusable coupon, sometimes in exchange for payment. It is understood the coupons are also being shared via WhatsApp with a step-by-step guide on how to carry out the cheat.
The supermarket said the misuse of the genuine coupon was being compounded by a rise of coupons that had been “generated fraudulently”.
“We have seen an increase in fraudulent coupons in our stores and we have processes in place to detect and block them,” a spokeswoman said. “We also have in-store detectives monitoring for fraudulent attempts and we are working closely with the police on this issue.
“We continue to accept genuine coupons and vouchers,” she added.
A special alert has been sent to store staff making them aware of the cheat, as well as notices put up in stores.
The coupons that end up being shared on social media are being blocked by the supermarket as quickly as it can.
Last year, Tesco was hit with a similar coupon ‘hack’ in which fraudulent coupons could be used to repeatedly take money off orders at self-checkouts. It is understood the till total could be run into minus figures, and the machine would dispense cash to the shopper. The cheat could only be used on machines running older software, which have since been updated.
More recently, a hoax Tesco ‘cheat’ coupon has been spread on social media saying users will get £9.50 off their shop if they swipe an attached QR code. However, rather than reduce the total amount, the QR code instead adds an item to their on-screen basket: a Lovehoney Frisky Rabbit Vibrator. Shoppers using the fake coupon then need to get a member of store staff to remove the item from their on-screen basket.
Of the hoax catching would-be fraudulent shoppers out, one online commenter said: “It’s brilliant, actually. Top tier trolling.”
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