US EditionMore than 1 in 4 self-checkout shoppers admit they’ve stolen: Survey
A 2025 survey found 61% of intentional self-checkout thefts involve keeping items, with millennials admitting at 41%, and 46% caught by stores, citing financial pressures.
- In a LendingTree survey of 2,050 consumers, more than one in four Americans who use self-checkouts admitted intentionally taking an item without scanning it.
- Respondents cited the current financial climate making essentials unaffordable and price increases tied to tariffs as top reasons for stealing.
- About one in three people who admitted stealing said they were not remorseful and more than half would likely steal again, while 42 percent said stealing has become more difficult and 10 percent less difficult.
- Survey respondents said 41 percent of millennials and 2 percent of baby boomers admitted to not scanning items, with men twice as likely as women to steal, according to LendingTree.
19 Articles
19 Articles
Wealthy Americans are more likely to steal from self-serve checkouts: report
Americans who live in households making upwards of $100,000 a year are twice as likely as poverty-stricken shoppers to steal from self-serve checkouts, a new survey has found. A sizable 40% of six-figure earners admitted to deliberately not scanning an item at a store, according to a recent LendingTree report — more than double the 17% of people making $30,000 and under who say they have done the same thing.
More people admit to stealing at self-checkouts. The reason may surprise you
More than one in four Americans who have used self-checkouts said they have intentionally taken an item without scanning it, according to a LendingTree survey of 2,050 consumers.The share of Americans who admitted stealing from self-checkouts rose sharply from 2023, when 15 percent said they had done so.In the 2025 survey, men were twice as likely as women to steal using self-checkouts. Just 2 percent of baby boomers admitted to intentionally no…
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 88% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
