http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/my-elf-self-1524863.html



interesting article. worth a really quick skim



http://harpers.org/archive/2008/03/mississippi-drift/?single=1

good stuff :

The digital revolution in retailing had led to gift-card cloning (copying the magnetic strip on an unused gift card, returning it to the store display, and then waiting until it is activated) and bar-code swapping (either printing up low-price bar codes on stickers or switching them from one item to another). Various lower-tech shoplifting methods could be employed anywhere, from the primitive "wahoo" (wherein the shoplifter walks into a convenience store, takes a case of beer, screams Wahoo! and runs out the door) to "left-handing" (paying for an item with your right hand while walking through the checkout with another item in your left) and "kangarooing" (the more theatrical use of a dummy arm and a pair of overalls with a large hidden pouch). One of the most lucrative scams was called "taking a flight" and involved having an accomplice steal one's luggage from an airport baggage carousel, which, with enough persistent calls to customer service, could result in a $3,000 payday from the airline.



"Receipt diving" involved plucking a crumpled receipt from an ashtray by the exit, entering the store, selecting the same object off the shelves, and promptly returning it, receipt in hand, for store credit. Another ruse involved finding goods in the trash (a bag of chips, perhaps), to which a paid sticker had been affixed. This sticker was removed and placed on a small, expensive object, which was then returned for store credit;