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Comment by FLUX-YOU | Hacker News Reader

Attacks I'd like to try but would get picked up by the cops if I did:

- Carry empty bags/containers of cheaper items in the store and place products inside these before pulling them off of the shelf.

- Pull products off of the shelf and give them to a friend. Place identical empty bags/containers back to re-credit your account while your friend never has the item debited and walks out.

- Drape a blanket over yourself and remove products from the shelf and put them in your bags so the system never sees items removed from the shelf

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Amazon has had this store open for employees to use for some time. Think of that time as a massive bug bash hacking project where really smart people are encouraged to try to find ways to wreak havoc with the system. There are undoubtedly attacks still to find but Amazon is definitely not being clueless about this.

>There are undoubtedly attacks still to find but Amazon is definitely not being clueless about this.

They likely have people watching the cameras full-time and will just report you to the cops if they see sleight-of-hand, now with identification and an address since you have to show your Amazon account when walking in. This is probably forever tenable to the bottom line since they're eliminating cashiers and security folks aren't paid that much more than cashiers anyway.

There's also probably a healthy amount of resolution and numerous camera angles that it'll be impossible for your face to not be picked up. Even using a fake account, you're still likely to have something Amazon-related installed on your phone that can be traced back to a telecom account.

And really, none the effort to avoid getting caught/traced is worth it to steal some bags of chips.

> will just report you to the cops if they see sleight-of-hand

Why? Just add it to the order.

And when you try to cancel your Amazon Prime subscription: Hey, remember that time when you tried placing an item under your coat (video link)?

Just play it as a pre-roll to the next video they watch.

Subscribe for a year now, or your shoplifting videos get sent to everyone on your Family Account...

Do you have inside knowledge of how the system tracks shoppers? Why does it need to see your face?

Just save your containers from your last visit, bring them with you in your shopping bags, pull an item off the shelf and replace it with an empty container from your bag so that it looks like you changed your mind.

You'd have to fill the containers to weight-match the sensors

That's a store selling food for public consumption. Stocking the shelves with old containers seems like it might carry some health risk? Or Amazon might not be very happy about what you are doing to the image of their store (and they'll know who you are because of the cameras.) Seems like a big risk to take to save a few dollars on lunch.

A similar attack at a normal grocery store is to grab an item off a shelf and walk out the door. Another attack is, if an employee asks you to stop and show your receipt, just keep walking.

But yeah, the cops tend to frown on shoplifting. It's actually a crime in many places, believe it or not.

I'm sure there are lots of clever ways to trick the system, but do you really want to try that when you're under constant and ubiquitous surveillance and you had to reveal your name, address, and credit card number to enter the store?

I haven’t the foggiest about the first two, but I’m going to guess that one of the workers would notice you cover yourself up with a blanket.

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