Few things are as disconcerting as the feeling of being watched, especially when you’re in a vulnerable moment. This is what a woman says she experienced in a Target dressing room when she realized something odd about the placement of a security camera.
In a viral TikTok, Tay (@taylerlynn000) films herself standing in front of a mirror in a Target fitting room. She then zooms in on the reflection of a dome camera mounted on the ceiling outside the fitting room area.
“Hi @target is it normal to have cameras facing towards the mirror in the dressing room?” she wrote in the text overlay. “Sincerely, a girl who just tried on bathing suits.” Tay adds in the caption that she didn’t notice the security camera until after she finished and got dressed.
Are Target security cameras ‘fake?’
Tay’s video earned more than 3 million views as of Thursday, sparking a discussion in the comments section. Several viewers who identified themselves as former or current Target workers told her she has nothing to worry about.
“Half of the cameras in target are fake from a former target employee,” one user said.
Another wrote, “Most of the domes are just that, no cameras in them. – Former Target [asset protection].”
A third user echoed, “Those cameras are fixed in one position, they only give the impression they’re all-direction viewing.”
Redditors say yes
While there are no official reports that Target uses fake security cameras, many who claim to have been employees of the retailer claim it does. In a Reddit post on the r/mildlyinteresting subreddit, a user shared a photo of the “insane” number of cameras inside Target.
One user who identified themselves as a former asset protection specialist for Target wrote that most of them are “dummy domes.”
“However, we would get up on a wave and move cameras as we see fit. Most cameras are PoE, and cables are easily repositioned up in those ceilings or already prewired for action,” they wrote. “We would mostly utilize PTZ cameras to get a seemless view of the racetrack.”
They continued that they “would move ‘dummy domes’ out of areas to give the sense to potential thieves that the aisle they are in are safe to conceal.”
“But we would install pin-point cameras behind the basedecks to catch a full view of the aisle,” the user continued. “We just drilled a tiny hole in the panel right below the basedeck and placed a camera behind it. Worked very well, and you could NEVER tell that there was a camera there.”
Another user who says they were also in asset protection at Target seconded the claim about dummy domes.
“Yes, confirmed, most of these domes are fake. One or two near the register are probably real, and the rest are just to be scary,” they said. It’s worth noting that this person said they worked at Target around 2010.
The Mary Sue has reached out to Target for comment. We have also reached out to Tay for comment via email.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
