In Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture, a 45-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of fraud for misusing a self-checkout system to purchase items at a price lower than their actual cost.
On November 18 of last year, the woman visited a commercial facility in Nagaoka City and purchased four boxes of ice cream worth a total of ¥1,589. However, she affixed pre-prepared barcode stickers from other food items, valued at just ¥370 in total, onto the ice cream boxes. She scanned these altered barcodes at the self-checkout machine, avoiding payment of the ¥1,219 difference.
The incident came to light on November 21 when the store noticed a discrepancy between its sales revenue and inventory and subsequently filed a report with the police. Security camera footage from the store captured the woman attaching the barcodes to the ice cream boxes, leading to her arrest.
During questioning, the woman admitted to the charges, stating, "There is no mistake." Police are continuing their investigation into how she obtained the barcodes and whether there may be additional offenses.
Viewer Comments:
Apparently, this counts as fraud, which might carry a harsher penalty than theft.
Getting arrested over ice cream is just too sad…
This is one crime I’d never want to commit—it’s just too embarrassing.
Comment