Guy Thinks He’s Stealing From Convenience Store Until His “Scam” Backfires In The Funniest Way

Let’s be real, not everyone’s cut out for a life of crime. Career criminals have to be smart, fearless, and have a healthy disregard for the law. Of course, every now and then, someone comes along who proves it’s best left to the professionals.

One guy turned to an online community to ask if he’d be a jerk to keep stealing from his local convenience store. You see, he thought he’d stumbled upon the perfect scam, but after an update to his original post, netizens couldn’t stop giggling. 

More info: Reddit

Being a successful career criminal takes a lot of guts, a cool head under pressure, and some serious smarts

Man in a plaid shirt looking confused in a convenience store aisle after realizing his stealing mistake and owing $43.

Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)

One guy, who thought he was scamming his local convenience store, turned to netizens to ask if continuing to do so made him a jerk

Text about a guy believing he was stealing from a convenience store but actually owes $43 for his mistake.

Man explains how mistakenly thinking he was stealing from convenience store led to owing $43 for his purchase.

Text excerpt describing a guy’s experience with convenience store purchases that he initially thought were free.

Text on white background reads a person's internal conflict about possibly stealing and wanting to keep free stuff from a convenience store.

Customer handing money to cashier at convenience store counter during purchase transaction.

Image credits: Getty Images / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

When commenters called him out on it, he admitted he didn’t really care what they said because he just wanted to keep getting free stuff

Man holding convenience store receipt, realizing he owes $43 after mistakenly thinking he was stealing.

Text on white background stating a person’s mistaken belief about stealing from a convenience store with a financial consequence.

Text excerpt from a story about a guy who believed he was stealing from a convenience store but ended up owing $43.

Text excerpt about a man believing he was stealing from a convenience store but realizing his mistake.

Man in blue cap and green sweater browsing frozen food aisle, reflecting on convenience store mistake and owed amount.

Image credits: Oscar Ramirez / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

Then, in an update to his original post, the guy revealed that the only person he was fooling was himself

Text post about a guy believing he was stealing from a convenience store but ending up owing $43 for his mistake.

Text excerpt from a guy believing he’s been stealing from convenience store, leading to a $43 mistake and owed amount.

Man realizing he used a gift card, believing he was stealing from convenience store, now owes $43 for mistake

Display of various convenience store gift cards including Applebee's, Domino's, IHOP, and Buffalo Wild Wings for purchase.

Image credits: Spiritual-Stay-5573 / Reddit (not the actual photo)

He’d accidentally mixed up the store rewards card with a gift card he’d been given by his mom and had been using that to “beat the system”

Text excerpt about guy’s anxiety-filled search and misunderstanding with convenience store gift card causing debt of $43.

Text excerpt about a guy who believed he was stealing from a convenience store and ended up owing $43.82.

Text on white background stating a humorous message about thinking he was stealing from convenience store but having a lot of eggs.

Alt text: Person clarifying a story about mistakenly owing $43 at a convenience store after believing they were stealing.

Image credits: unusually_hard

His big heist came screeching to a halt when he got to the cashier, though, leaving him with a story, and a bill, that left netizens screaming with laughter

For a brief, glorious moment, the original poster (OP) thought they’d cracked the code to eternal free snacks. After using what he thought was his convenience store rewards card, his total came to zero. Not once, but every time. Naturally, netizens had thoughts when OP asked if it was wrong to keep quiet about his sneaky little secret.

The mysterious discount felt like hitting the jackpot. Who wouldn’t want unlimited boiled eggs, questionable hot dogs, and lukewarm coffee, all for zip? For days, OP strutted into that store like a VIP, thinking he’d unlocked the ultimate rewards glitch. He even joked that he felt like he had “the most power in the entire world.”

But then, tragedy, or maybe justice, struck. On OP’s next visit, he confidently piled up snacks, swiped the “magic” card again, and, suddenly, the cashier told him he still owed $43.82. Turns out, it wasn’t a rewards card at all; it was a long-forgotten gift card from his mom, now completely drained. So much for a free ride.

In the hilarious update to his original post, OP confessed he’d thought he’d had it all, the rewards card that wouldn’t stop rewarding, maybe even the world, but now he just has a lot of eggs. Nutrition? Sorted. Dreams of being a criminal mastermind with a never-ending snack stash? Crushed.

Convenience store exterior with parked cars where a guy believed he was stealing and ended up owing $43.

Image credits: Zhen Yao / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

Just when OP thought he’d won the golden ticket, his self-proclaimed crime spree came to a screeching halt. Getting called out by the internet for basically scamming the store didn’t stop him from doing it over and over again, though. Psychologists call this moral rationalization, but just how does it work? We went digging for answers.

Leon F Seltzer (PhD) over at Psychology Today explains that moral rationalization basically means interpreting your bad behavior as way more justified or appropriate than it actually is. The not-so-great news? It’s something we’ve all been guilty of at one point or another, whether we want to admit it or not.

Seltzer breaks it down nicely: we find ways of rationalizing unethical deeds so we can keep feeling good about ourselves, even in the face of behavior that doesn’t make us look good – or that we’d be quick to judge others for. Simply put, it’s one of the worst (and most persistent) flaws of human nature. 

The experts from TalkSpace say that people may use rationalization for several reasons, including avoiding cognitive dissonance (that thing that happens when our thoughts and beliefs don’t match), preventing disappointment, skipping self-analysis, deflecting blame, hiding mistakes, or straight-up denying reality. 

OP knew that what he was doing (or at least what he thought he was doing) wasn’t above board, or he wouldn’t have reached out to netizens to ask. Here’s hoping his egg-laden lesson will make him think twice before he plans another hilarious heist.

What would you have done if you’d found yourself in OP’s shoes? Have you ever found a glitch you thought you could successfully exploit? Share your thoughts in the comments!

In the comments, the jury was still out on whether or not the original poster was a jerk, but readers all seemed to agree his short spell as a criminal mastermind was hilarious

Man realizes he mistakenly thought he was stealing from convenience store, ends up owing $43 for error.

Screenshot of a Reddit conversation about a guy mistakenly owing $43 at a convenience store over a purchase mix-up.

Reddit user discusses believing he was stealing from convenience store and ending up owing $43 for his mistake.

Screenshot of a social media comment reacting to a story about a guy believing he was stealing from a convenience store.

Screenshot of an online comment explaining confusion about rewards credit cards and large bills at a convenience store.

Reddit comment discussing a guy who believed he was stealing from a convenience store and ended up owing $43.

Screenshot of a Reddit comment expressing strong excitement about a story involving someone believing they stole from a convenience store.

Reddit comment explaining that proteins are amino acids, clarifying a misconception in a discussion about convenience store stealing incident.

Screenshot of a Reddit comment where a user describes mistakenly owing money after “stealing” from a convenience store.

Screenshot of a Reddit comment discussing a story about a guy believing he was stealing from a convenience store and owing money.

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