Millions duped by fake Walmart shopping ‘hack’ that went viral

‘If such a trick did exist, there would countless videos showing that it works. Instead, there are none,’ says fact checkers

A scam hack has been disproved after it circulated around the video sharing app TikTok (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Claims of a discount code originating from a viral TikTok video have been disproved, but not before the dupe reached millions of people.

The news was shared by Mittal Patel, who posts under the name @iammittalpatel, last month. The video has racked up 20 million views and millions of likes. It is unclear how many people attempted to use the code to save money.

“When you go to Walmart and the doors open, look up. There’s a four-digit code,” Mr Patel says in the video. “Remember that!”

He goes on to tell viewers to shop as they usually would, but then when you need to pay, go to a self checkout.

“Now on that screen, on the top right corner, there’s an option for a discount code. Click that and enter the code,” he says into camera.

However, despite the video’s popularity, his claims are false, according to Snopes, a website committed to debunking myths online.

According to their research, the myth has been propagated on the app since early 2020. The first person believed to have disseminated the falsehood was a user who goes by @watchoutttt.kee.

Mr Patel’s video is a stitched response to a prompt by another TikToker, @colinjashby who asked users to tell him, “What is a fact or a statistic that seems fake but is real?”

The comments, which appear to have been deleted, outlined their confusion about the video. They also contained people who had tried out this supposed shopping hack, only to be disappointed when no discount was given.

According to Snopes, a number of Walmart customers and members of staff attempted to try out the so-called discount code with no luck.

Snopes’ report about the claims reads, “there is no special four-digit code hidden over or around the front doors of Walmart stores that allows customers to receive a discount at self-checkout. If such a trick did exist, there would countless videos showing that it works. Instead, there are none.”

The Independent reached out to the relevant TikTokers and Walmart for comment about Snopes’ disproving the claims.