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posted by mrpg on Tuesday August 22 2017, @12:45AM   Printer-friendly
from the get-/good_prices.htm dept.

USA Today has a story about a New Jersey couple who allegedly used a glitch in Lowes website to steal merchandise.

A New Jersey couple used a website glitch to try and get more than $258,000 worth of goods — everything from a gazebo to an air conditioner to a stainless steel grill — for free from a home improvement store, authorities said.

Ultimately, the couple was only able to secure nearly $13,000 worth of merchandise from Lowe's after exploiting "weaknesses" in the company's website to have the items shipped to their home in Brick for free, according to a release from the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.

Romela Velazquez, 24, was arrested and charged with theft by deception and computer criminal activity for accessing a computer system with the purpose to defraud. She attempted to get about $258,068 worth of unpaid merchandise from Lowe's, according to the release.

She actually received about $12,971 in stolen products, according to the release.

Her husband, Kimy Velazquez, 40, was charged with third-degree receipt of stolen property and fencing for his role in the alleged scheme.

The couple tried to sell some of the products on a local Facebook "buy and sell" group for half of the original sale price, listing the products as "new in box," authorities said.

According to an article on NJ.com, an attorney for the couple has stated that Velazquez is just an expert shopper, not a criminal hacker.

Jef Henninger, an attorney for Romela Velazquez, said his client is "the farthest thing from a computer hacker."

"Like many young mothers, she needs to stretch every dollar she can," Henninger said in a statement. "As a result, she has learned to spot good deals. These are the same deals that any of us can take advantage of, but most of us are too busy to learn how to spot them.

"Buying things at a big discount and selling them is not illegal. As a result, she maintains her innocence (and) looks forward to her day in court."

As far as I have been able to find, no technical details about the hack have been released.

One of the more interesting details that I did see was

Lowe's, makers of Ugg shoes and Victoria's Secret have been identified as victims so far – but many more retailers were also ripped off and will eventually be identified, officials said.

Who knew?

Additional coverage at the New York Post and BleepingComputer.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 22 2017, @03:00AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 22 2017, @03:00AM (#557361)

    Why should there be an expectation that a business is going to legitimately negotiate their products down to free for the taking?

    Because the cost to give you free shipping may be less than the cost to have the merchandise disposed. Should we pay someone to get rid of this office furnature or set the price to $1.00 or $0.00 and have customers carry it away for free? I've rang up an on sale item that was an in store display, and after the $20.00 off MFG coupon I ended up paying the customer to take the item. The MFG coupon will be reimbursed.

    Your black and white view of economics is so mentally deficient you need to check yourself back into elementary school.

  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Tuesday August 22 2017, @12:29PM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday August 22 2017, @12:29PM (#557471) Journal

    Because the cost to give you free shipping may be less than the cost to have the merchandise disposed.

    But that's not the case here.

    Your black and white view of economics is so mentally deficient you need to check yourself back into elementary school.

    We're not speaking of economics here. We're speaking of someone who found a trick for getting a quarter of a million dollars in merchandise for free and is claiming as their defense that they thought it was legitimate. Where is the expectation here that a business will legitimate give away that quantity of merchandise for free no matter the supposed economic reason when they weren't prior? Especially when the person then turns around and sells the merchandise for a significant fraction of its original price?