The Disturbing Checkout Scam Walmart Is Being Accused Of

It's big, it's crowded, and it's in just about every town from the East Coast to the West: It's Walmart. Promoting big-box items with low prices, Walmart serves an average of 230 million customers each week, according to Statista. But just how many of those 230 million customers are actually getting the prices they expected?

With a company as big as Walmart, there are bound to be some accusations of scamming or cheating the customer going around. While many of these accusations are nothing more than flimsy gossip, there may be some evidence of scams that involve Walmart purchases. In 2020, according to KFOR News 4, residents of Altus, Oklahoma became targets of a supposed "Walmart Cashier Service Evaluation," a scam that involved the target purchasing several $500 Walmart gift cards using a bogus check and then emailing the gift card information to a provided address. Even Walmart employees aren't safe from scammers, as was the case of one new employee being tricked into giving a supposed "manager" a large amount of money in 2021, per Mercury News.

But what happens when it's was Walmart itself being accused of ripping people off?

In July, a TikTok video uploaded by @brennasbakery warned Walmart shoppers about what seems to be a scheme involving price discrepancies. Brenna claimed she went to Walmart to purchase baking ingredients. One ingredient was baking chocolate, which had the price tag of $2.62 on Walmart's website and in-store. But when the chocolates were scanned at checkout, Brenna noticed that they were being priced at $4.00. Although Brenna corrected the cashier, who then corrected the price, she noticed that five other items were also being rung up as more expensive than they were listed as. 

Many commenters claimed to have seen this happen to them as well, but others seemed less eager to jump into accusations. One commenter noted that someone at the store probably forgot to do markdowns on items, while another reported that Walmart employees may forget to change the prices on certain items in store. One self-identified Walmart worker added, "make sure you let people know not to get mad [at] the actual workers there in the store please, we have no control on price." 

In a statement provided to Newsweek, Walmart said that there is no widespread scam and that it's simply the result of pricing inaccuracies. "We appreciate Brenna for bringing this to our attention and know we need to get better," a Walmart spokesperson told the outlet. "We encourage other customers to bring pricing inaccuracies to our associates' attention, and we will happily address the matter."