A woman keen to save money on her supermarket shop has been shamed for a sneaky tactic at the till.
Self-service check-outs were introduced in the UK more than a decade ago, designed to cut queues and reduce demands on staff.
While supermarkets have precautions in place to ensure people are paying what they should, there is still an element of trust that customers will not try to cheat the system.
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As the Mirror reports, one shopper has been warned that her cheeky attempt to save cash could land her in trouble with the law.
Her friend wrote into News.com.au's Sisters In Law, which allows people to ask legal advice from sisters and lawyers Alison and Jillian Barrett, with concerns about the tactic.
She said that when her friend uses the self-service checkouts, she regularly puts more expensive fruit and vegetables - such as an avocado - through the system as a brown onion instead.
The friend believes that it is not stealing as she is still paying something for it, and claimed the supermarkets work the cost of self-checkout fraud into its prices because "everyone does it".
However, the lawyers disagreed.
Their response advised: "It doesn’t matter how your friend tries to justify her behaviour, her deceitful conduct in intentionally not paying full price is against the law.
"Your friend’s technique of using the self-service checkout to pass off more expensive items as cheaper ones cheats the system by underpaying.
"Her fraudulent behaviour is just one of many tricks employed by self-service thieves to avoid payment."
Self-checkouts weigh items to check shoppers are being truthful, and supermarkets often employ staff and security guards to oversee the area.
Alison and Jillian, based in Australia, said the 'tricks' to get around that are costing supermarkets a fortune every year and could actually push up food prices as a result.
They advised that in Australia, getting caught could lead to a fine or even criminal charges, particularly for a repeat offender.
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