One teenager thought he could get away with stealing from Target because he worked there. He was so wrong.
In a viral video with more than 3 million views, Wells (@wells2fit), who is now an adult, stitched a video of a guy warning people from stealing from Target because they are “one of the most dirty companies.”
He’s likely referring to the long-held rumor that major retailers like Target and Walmart don’t apprehend thieves right away. Instead, they allegedly wait to approach them until a person has racked up a large enough dollar amount in stolen items that they’ll be charged with grand larceny (a felony) instead of petty larceny (a misdemeanor). These claims have never been confirmed.
The dollar amount that counts as grand larceny varies from state to state, with it being as low as $200 in New Jersey and up to $2,500 in Wisconsin.
In the TikTok, Wells explains that he used to work at Target as a teenager and it was one of his first-ever jobs.
“I didn’t have the right mindset. I was reckless, and I was scheming on some sh*t,” Wells says.
He quickly noticed that when he made a mistake swiping an item, he had to void it so the item and price would be taken off of the receipt. He figured he could still give the person the voided item, and nothing would happen.
“From the moment I discovered that void option, it was over with. Any bad b*tch, any of my homeboys and my family coming through my line, you getting free sh*t,” Wells says. “Like, you gotta buy some things, but some sh*t’s getting taken off the receipt.”
Wells adds that he had no game at the time, meaning he didn’t know how to charm women, and figured they would find him more appealing if he helped them out with the cost of their groceries or Target trip.
He did this for months until he decided he wanted to step his game up.
Wells told his friends to come through and buy iPods plus a few low-value items, like candy. The plan was to void the iPods so they’d get them for free and then resell them.
After his second friend walked out of the store successfully with the iPods, Wells felt like his plan was working. That’s until a dude in a white polo shirt asked him to clock out and follow him. He was an asset prevention person.
The man led him to a room with more than 20 TVs, and on each screen was Wells’ face.
“My jaw just dropped. Like, what do you say? You can’t even lie cause your face is on every [screen]. They saw every time I pressed that button and let someone walk out with something,” Wells says.
Wells asked the loss prevention person why they didn’t stop him before if they already knew what he was doing. Here’s the gag—they were waiting for him to “go big.”
@wells2fit #stitch with @Boss Griff #target #theft #storytime #fyp #foryou ♬ original sound – Wells
Wells says that he was able to finesse his way out of trouble and got a bill in the mail for all the things he’d voided. He had to pay it, otherwise he’d face criminal charges.
“I still don’t really f*ck with Target. Like, I’m afraid to go in there,” Wells says.
The TikTok has garnered nearly 3,000 comments in just one day.
“Yeah I was loss prevention at target they got the best cameras . I was reading a customers text message conversation through the cameras,” one viewer revealed.
“Its not called target for a reason,” another said.
“It’s the go ahead and clock out for me,” a person joked.
The Daily Dot reached out to Wells via Instagram direct message and to Target via email.
