Sainsbury’s customers ’score £441 worth of shopping for £6’ using TikTok voucher ’hack’
Sainsbury’s say they have launched a crackdown on ’fraudulently generated’ coupons after gleeful TikTok users posted videos of themselves reusing a voucher to get free groceries
Gleeful Sainsbury’s customers were able to load their trolleys with free shopping after a voucher "hack" spread online.
Videos shared on TikTok showed customers using a screenshot of the voucher multiple times at self-service checkouts - resulting in them paying far less than they should have. One delighted customer took to the social media site to brag about taking advantage of the deal, saying "by 10pm I’m back in the house with £441 worth of shopping for £6". They shared picture of their shopping which included pizzas, toilet rolls, milk, fruit juices, and laundry items.
In another video, a member of staff appears to try and stop a shopper from using the coupon and tells them it is fraudulent. But they respond: "If it’s not allowed, why is it still on the system?"
The situation turns ugly when a security guard approaches him and the shopper adds: "I’m recording for my safety and your safety, because if you touch me, I’m going to knock you out." They continue to protest their right to use the voucher as they tell staff: "Disconnect it from the system and I won’t use the coupon. The system allows me to use it so I’m using it. If it’s a frauded coupon, how is it on the Sainsbury’s app?" Items in their trolley include tinned soup and a box of Ferrero Rocher.
In a different clip shared on the social media platform, a user pays just 25p as the self-service checkout displays a £45 saving. The same user then claims to have returned to the store for a second time with the voucher and spent £3 on a £91 shop.
It was reported that an urgent alert was sent to store staff in light of the incidents, and notices have been displayed in stores. Coupons shared on social media are now being blocked by the supermarket, though there was a short delay in updating the system.
It follows a similar exploit last year at Tesco, when fraudulent coupons appeared to be used to repeatedly take money off orders at self-checkouts. In this case it is thought that the till total could even be manipulated into negative figures, causing the machine to give cash to the shopper. This was only said to possible on machines running older software, which have since been updated.
Sainsbury’s say they have recently witnessed an increase in the misuse of genuine coupons, as well as a surge in "fraudulently generated" coupons. A spokesperson told the Express: “We have seen an increase in fraudulent coupons in our stores and we have processes in place to detect and block them. We also have in-store detectives monitoring for fraudulent attempts and we are working closely with the police on this issue. We continue to accept genuine coupons and vouchers.”
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