Did this person get his Best Buy pickup barcode hacked?
Reddit user ruturaj001 claims he ordered a new monitor for pickup. But when they got to the store, they said a Best Buy worker told them that someone with their barcode and ID had already picked it up.
Is this identity theft? Or did Best Buy fumble the ball?
The Samsung pickup order
Rutura claims they ordered a 49″ Samsung Odyssey monitor from Samsung, opting to pick up the device at Best Buy rather than having it shipped directly. The monitor retails for more than $1,000.
“Before I could pick it up,” they claim in the post, “someone else that I don’t know did. I went to Best Buy to sort it out, as per Best Buy that person had [the] right barcode and ID.”
According to Rutura, the store created a report documenting the incident. However, they claim the report has had “no updates in [the] last 3 months.”
They further claim, “Best Buy said they would forward it to Samsung and points to Samsung. Samsung points me to Best Buy.”
Lastly, they add, “I filed a complaint at local PD. Not sure what to do now. Who is responsible here?”
Did someone steal his Best Buy barcode?
Unfortunately, given the lack of details, it’s hard, if not impossible, to ascertain if someone was able to duplicate Rutura’s ID and somehow obtain the barcode for the return.
Three years ago, another Redditor posted a story about nearly the opposite happening. User blu3mercurycrush posted that they received a notification to pick up two Xboxes at Best Buy despite not ordering them.
They stated that they believed their girlfriend had purchased two consoles as a gift but stated that this was not the case. They also claimed they could not return the consoles at first because they did not have the correct credit card info.
Eventually, they were able to return the two items.
In January, user gavinsiu posted on a bogleheads.org forum that they had picked up a specially ordered computer from Best Buy and received another model despite the store scanning his receipt.
They wrote, “They just handed me someone else’s computer when I pick up, I am wondering if they just switched someone’s computer with mine and this is not a theft issue.”
“I also asked how their cashier did not detect the issue when they scan [sic] my ticket and the item’s bar code,” the posted added. “They said it was because it was a special order.”
They also claimed, “The manager who told me that the laptop was stolen said he miscommunication. He indicate [sic] that this was an unusual case, but I feel that their inventory control is sloppy.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Best Buy via email for a statement.
How does Best Buy protect against theft?
According to a 2023 article by Business Insider, Best Buy has implemented various strategies to reduce retail theft.
These include in-store security workers, fewer self-checkout registers, and locking up certain merchandise.
Best Buy uses displays and digital tools in stores, allowing customers to quickly pick up items ordered online.
Best Buy CEO Corie Barry told Business Insider, “Given the high-ticket nature of what we sell, we’ve been addressing shrink aggressively for honestly many, many years.”
However, Barry did not comment on identity-checking procedures or online security measures.
[Help] Someone else picked up my samsung order at best buy
byu/ruturaj001 inBestbuy
Other Redditors have advice
One Redditor wrote, “Change all of your passwords to everything immediately.” That’s presumably to get ahead of identity theft issues.
“Talk to your credit card company. If talks [with] credit card company fails, send PayPal a fat packet of what they have to legally prove via certified mail if they decide to say you owe them too,” Downtown_Scar1690 advised.
However, one person noted, “I have a feeling it’s internal. Realistically how can someone outside of you with the same state and same store have YOUR barcode & ID? Sounds like that store has an insider who’s stealing.”
The Daily Dot reached out to ruturaj001 via Reddit message for further comment.
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