A Tennessee woman has been banned from every Walmart in the country after an epic shoplifting spree.
Ashley Cross, 37, cannot enter any of the grocery giant’s 4,600 stores after being caught running a bar code scam.
Cross, a known shoplifter, was caught using barcode for a watch battery to scan multiple items for $1 at self-checkouts.
Memphis Police caught Cross in the process of stealing a pair of jeans, a t-shirt some boots and 11 packs of ramen noodles from a Walmart on Elvis Presley Boulevard earlier this week.
The total haul was valued at $137.34, according to the police report.
She wasn’t working alone — another woman with her was charged with stealing $57.86 worth of goods, which included two bras.
Due to her history of theft, Cross has now found herself on list that bans her from entering another Walmart again.
‘We value our customers and associates and want them to have a pleasant shopping experience,’ Walmart said in a statement.
Ashley Cross, 37, has been banned from every Walmart in the country
‘Though rare, there are instances when someone is no longer welcome in our stores.’
Cross has been charged for criminal trespass and theft of merchandise less than $1,000.
She is currently being held in jail on a $7,500 bond, according to News 3.
Cross is due to appear in court on February 19.
Shoplifting is an ongoing concern for Walmart, and the chain has made great effort to try and curtail it.
Self-checkouts have been a particular issue, leading staff to manually check customers’ receipts against the items in their bags.
However, shoplifters have learned to exploit this by using old receipts, those from different stores, or even completely fake ones.
Walmart has now started using handheld scanners in select stores to verify the authenticity of customer receipts after checkout.
Walmart has made great efforts to reduce the amount of shoplifting at its stores
Self-checkouts remain a shrinkage weak spot for large stores
The policy is designed to catch theft in action but also to deter potential shoplifters through fear of being caught out.
The chain has also introduced a feature that lets shoppers simply move an item over the self-checkout scanner, which will register the item without needing to scan a visible bar code.
The new technology works on any Walmart Great Value branded items, such as graham crackers, chocolate bars and croissant sandwiches.
The invisible barcodes were first introduced to Walmart branded items in 2019, through the chain’s partnership with Digimarc.
Digimarc Barcode’s are invisible to the naked eye, but are printed all over an item enabling it to be easily picked up by a self-checkout scanner.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .