Pretending to Scan Barcode... Store Owner Watching Locks Door Remotely

Shop Owner Caught Red-Handed Watching CCTV, Arrested on the Spot

A man who pretended to pay at an unmanned store and then stole products was caught by the police at the scene. It was thanks to the store owner's report after watching the CCTV footage.

Image source=Korean National Police Agency YouTube

On the 21st, a video titled "Want to see a possessed acting skill?" was uploaded on the YouTube channel of the Korean National Police Agency. It was filmed on the 13th of last month at an unmanned store located in Seoul. The man, wearing a hat pulled down low, entered the store and, as if familiar, picked out items and acted as if he was paying in front of the kiosk. He pretended to scan the barcode, but unlike his busy actions, nothing appeared on the kiosk screen. After finishing the act, he tried to leave the store with the items, but the store owner was watching the entire process through CCTV.

The store owner remotely locked the store door and reported to the police, "A thief broke into the unmanned store," and "He also stole items five days ago."

Although the man was trapped inside the store due to the locked door, he calmly ate ice cream that he had not paid for and greeted the arriving police officers nonchalantly. At first, he denied the crime during police questioning, but after confirming the evidence, he admitted to the crime and was arrested.

Chosen to reduce labor costs but theft crimes surge

Recently, the number of unmanned stores has been increasing due to reasons such as reducing labor costs, but many small unmanned stores rely solely on CCTV installation or locks as security measures, leading to frequent petty thefts.

According to the National Police Agency, the number of theft cases at unmanned stores increased nearly twofold from 698 cases in 2021 (March to December) to 1,363 cases in 2022 (January to December). The age distribution of suspects in unmanned store thefts (second half of 2022) showed that 104 were minors (including 50 juvenile offenders under the Juvenile Act), and 385 were adults, with minors accounting for 21.2% of the total.

In particular, incidents such as intoxicated customers making a mess inside unmanned stores or urinating and fleeing are not uncommon, deepening the worries of self-employed business owners operating unmanned stores.