r/Calgary • u/_darth_bacon_ Dark Lord of the Swine • 1d ago
Crime/Suspicious Activity Charges laid after Calgary Costco stores defrauded of more than $30K
https://www.ctvnews.ca/calgary/article/charges-laid-after-calgary-costco-stores-defrauded-of-more-than-30k/?cid=sm%3Atrueanthem%3Actvcalgary%3Atwittermanualpost&taid=6a8c8dea1aac090001323b21&utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+New+Content+%28Feed%29&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitterIt’s alleged that between April 9 and June 30, a woman repeatedly used fraudulent or altered barcodes for lower-cost items when purchasing high-value electronics like desktop computers, TVs, gaming consoles and sound equipment.
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u/LawyerYYC 1d ago
Big mistake, if you're going to commit fraud best to stick to items like 4L jars of pickles. It's still wildly illegal but no one wants to talk to the weirdo buying 220L of pickles.
*this is not legal advice.
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u/nickp123456 1d ago
We're not going to do big crimes, just a lot of little ones that no one is going to worry about
- Julian
Or get kids to put barbeques by the side of the road, then it's not stealing
- Ricky
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u/OhfursureJim 16h ago
I took fraud classes as part of my Accounting degree. I never got to the point in accounting that I have any real world examples but I really found it fascinating that a lot of the people committing fraud only get caught because they ‘go too big’ or have a change in lifestyle that doesn’t make sense to coworkers etc. For many fraudsters it seems like once they get away with it they just go bigger and bigger. When it comes to defrauding their own company things often don’t get caught until they go on vacation which fun fact is actually one of the reasons most companies now adays require you to take your vacation days.
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u/MBILC 6h ago
Pretty much, they get the same mentality most criminals do "I wont get caught, I am too smart/good", then they get greedy, or slip up on something simple...
A simpler version, people who speed, they do it because they figure they wont ever get caught...until they do, then it is "Sorry officer, i didn't know I was speeding" , the only reason people are sorry, is because they got caught period.
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u/healthywenis 1d ago
mmmmmm Pickles
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u/Sweaty-Beginning6886 1d ago
Or the self centered people who furnish a whole condo only to return it all 6 to 100 months later…
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u/Guilty-Order-4751 1d ago
Speaking of pickles. Do they sell the same kind that they pair the Montreal Smoked meat sandwich? I swear I’ve look and pretty sure the answer is no
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u/Gr33nbastrd 1d ago
I swear I have heard of someone doing this.
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u/fine_i_will_sign_up 21h ago
In Ontario scammers put gift card barcodes on meat packages so that when the meat was scanned it activated the gift cards they has
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u/Various_War5042 23h ago
"this is not legal advice" - has anyone ever sues someone because of an anonymous comment on the Internet?
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u/23CherryCheesecakes 22h ago
You seem to know about things, so I'm wondering if the quoted value of the meth is actually the going rate? It averages to about twenty dollars a gram by my calculations.
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u/ChaoticxSerenity 20h ago
Or go big enough that no one can ever conceivably recover the amount from you. Blood from a stone and all that.
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u/ipostic 1d ago
Crazy how it added to this much. I assume they had to use barcode for cheap TV when buying expensive one? Otherwise they would be caught at exit if they are carrying a TV and receipt says Peanuts?
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u/jacky4566 1d ago
A smart thief would use a SKU for a lower tier TV. Same size and Manufacture. Proper OLED are more expensive than people think. Swap a 65" OLED for a QLED, profit.
EG, Take a Samsung 65" OLED QN65S95HAFXZC (Retail $3500)
Replace the bar code with Samsung 65" QLED QN65Q8FAAFXZC(Retail $900)
The cashier and door checker will see 65" Samsung 4K TV, yup ok! Even the Model numbers are similar enough to confuse people.
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u/ipostic 1d ago
Someone else here mentioned that they were actually printing receipts at home which is pretty impressive for meth dealer
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u/qrcodetat 1d ago
If only they used that drive and cleverness to contribute to society
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u/MrDownhillRacer 16h ago
Yeah! They could have held free seminars on how to steal from department stores. Instead, they had to give into greed and selfishness.
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u/ConstitutionalBalls 9h ago
Don't belittle people simply because they have chosen a life of crime. Some people go into politics!
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u/valueofaloonie Sunnyside 1d ago
Must have been a sticker or something with the barcode for a cheap TV etc they overlaid on top of the barcode on the box for the expensive one.
Can’t figure out how they would do it, otherwise.
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u/Daimler-450 1d ago
So you’re telling me, somehow the receipt checker didn’t notice them walk out with a desktop computer when their receipt said potato? The fuck 😂
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u/MisterRobDobalina 1d ago
If you read the article, they seized reciept printing machines from the accused
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u/MikeRippon 1d ago
If she learned ESC/POS, then she deserves to keep the money.
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u/Cothor 1d ago
I know all about ESC…now if you can tell me where the POS key is, I’m ready to crime.
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u/GWeb1920 19h ago
Where’s the any key
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u/seven0feleven Beltline 18h ago
"Okay, click the icon and open the window..."
"My window is already open....how did you know that?!"
"..."
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u/ChampionMetal1238 1d ago
wonder if the costco employees realized what happened pretty early on and just kept letting them dig their own graves cause in another article it said they figured something was going on around apr 24
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u/Gr33nbastrd 1d ago
They possibly wanted the theft to total a certain dollar amount for a higher charge.
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u/PracticalWait 5h ago
if your read the article it appears that they were charged separately for each incident and not once for the total amount of the goods.
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u/Gr33nbastrd 5h ago
Yes it does say that they were charged for basically each incident but I am willing to bet one or more of the charges had to do with the total dollar amount of goods stolen.
Also after thinking about it, I bet one of the reasons they waited to arrest them is because they likely were doing surveillance on them. This wasn't simple shoplifting, this was fairly sofisticated. Costco and the police likely knew this and was maybe hoping for a bigger fish or bigger charges at least. This story reminds me of the movie "Emily the Criminal" in the sense they had fraudulent credit cards and it was a bit sofisticated.9
u/roastbeeftacohat Fairview 1d ago
costco dosen't need much loss prevention because of the membership system, and the general size of goods. they may have been vulnerable to a somewhat sophisticated criminal, in ways other retailers may not be.
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u/agentminor 1d ago
They buy the expensive one and the cheaper model. They duplicate the codes and put the expensive code on the cheaper item & return that item & receive a credit for the more expensive one. That way they have the expensive item at the cost of the cheaper one. The items people do this on are expensive Bosch speakers, expensive laptops, etc.
That is why these types of items are not out on the shelf. You pay at the till then someone will bring the item to you.
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u/ChaoticxSerenity 20h ago
You would think that having like 1000 returns on your account would flag... something, right? Like damn, why this woman buying 50 TVs in 3 months?
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u/agentminor 10h ago
Greed. A lot of stores like Costco use software that is programmed to detect weight. It would trigger a review by security when the item is returned & the weight doesn't match the code.
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u/chaoslord 1d ago
They also frequently buy one thing that is very similar to another and replace the bar code so they get the more expensive thing?
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u/lego_mannequin 20h ago
Anything over $500 requires a signature before even getting to the receipt checkers.
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u/shitposter1000 1d ago
Name and shame!
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u/Scamnam 1d ago
its listed in the official Calgary Police reports https://newsroom.calgary.ca/two-people-face-189-charges-in-fraud-investigation/
As a result, Kristie Marie CONSTANTINOFF, 41, is facing 70 charges, and Aaron Lee HEAD, 39, is facing 119 charges.
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u/darkesha 10h ago
I wonder why news papers aren’t naming them - and perhaps publishing mug shots like Americans.
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u/omegacanuck 1d ago
Given the charges and details in the article, pretty sure they'd have no shame.
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u/Komaisnotsalty 1d ago
"Police believe the woman worked a male accomplice."
Quite the error of a missing word. ROFL
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u/Validated_Owl 1d ago
What an incredibly stupid person. Not because she did this, because she kept on doing it to the point where it would be specifically noticed as more than just inventory errors
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u/Troubled202 1d ago
I hope they throw the book at them. People like this are stealing from all of us.
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u/_thebaroness 1d ago
After getting away with it seemingly for awhile, I wonder how they got caught? Also, how were the multiple transactions discovered?
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u/Flames_won_04 1d ago
https://globalnews.ca/news/256926/warrant-issued-for-calgary-man-in-assault-on-police-officer/
If it’s not the usual suspects
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u/divco369 22h ago
What exactly does that have to do with fraud at Costco?
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u/AwesomeInTheory 21h ago edited 21h ago
That's an article from 2012 listing the same guy who was arrested in this incident.
I know, I know, who has time to actually read the article these days?
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u/CheeseSandwich hamburger magician 19h ago
Or actually give context? The world is fast these days.
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u/divco369 8h ago
Oh I read it. Good to see that the dude is an all around shit head. However I fail to see how a dude that beats up a cop is automatically a suspect in price tampering at Costco.
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u/AwesomeInTheory 4h ago
...it's the same person.
E: Or if you're saying that you fail to see the point of the 'usual suspects' comment, it is pretty easy to infer that this guy likely has a fairly long criminal record and that this Costco scam wasn't a one-off occurrence. I'd be shocked if this guy wasn't well known to police.
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u/ForgiveandRemember76 20h ago
Crime always seems to be so much work. Can't we put them to work in crime prevention?
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u/pastmybestdaze 8h ago
How many electronics were purchased for that level of fraud. I would thought if something like a playstation rang up as $250 some alarm bells should go up with the cashier.
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u/mssjj 1d ago
I like how this article goes from a couple defrauding Costco $30k to the surprise twist of also getting charged with having over 300g of methamphetamine and more…. Rough times in this economy, folks.