What could you do and get away with before computers?

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  • bonkers1919

    Sharpshooter
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    Apr 3, 2010
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    Columbus
    When I was 16 I worked at a large supermarket. The manager had a friend that delivered newspapers. Every Sunday the two of them would sit in the office cutting, ripping and tearing out coupons. Then the manager would place the coupons in the registrar and take the cash out.

    You could do this as there was no inventory control via computer scanners. Over his 40 year career he made serious money doing this.
     

    possum_128

    Master
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    Mar 21, 2008
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    Martinsville area
    What he did over his 40 year career is he took some serious money doing this that he did not earn. He didn't make it, he was a thief and thief's don't make money, they steal it!

    I never "tried" to get away with anything, pre computers or the present.
     

    WebSnyper

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    Jul 3, 2010
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    And this is why computerized inventory control is in such demand today, to keep track of stuff and catch people like this.

    On the other hand, computers make it quicker and easier for people to steal from others half way around the world... yeah, there are trade off's. Computers are just tools. Some people use them for good things, and some use them for bad things.
     

    JTScribe

    Chicago Typewriter
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    Dec 24, 2012
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    I imagine things like identity theft were far simpler back then. It's always interesting to read detective stories from as little as 20 or 30 years ago.
     

    Dutch68

    Shooter
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    Jan 2, 2015
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    apt
    Not any different than today , Just easier back then----Camera phones and social media also come into play today
     

    churchmouse

    I still care....Really
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    187   0   0
    Dec 7, 2011
    191,809
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    Speedway area
    Way back in the day I worked (2nd job) as a field manager at a local drive in movie. The cars would line up well before the box office would open. The staff (kids mainly) that took the admission would often pocket a bit of it by head count in the cars. They were pretty slick at it.
    Then we started a flat rate per car. That brought out a new level of scam. A car count exposed the problem but it was tough to catch the people doing it.
     

    Leadeye

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    Jan 19, 2009
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    Stealing hasn't changed since there have been people, computers make some aspects of theft harder and some easier. Become leadership if you want to make the big time by stealing.
     

    GodFearinGunTotin

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    1   0   0
    Mar 22, 2011
    50,582
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    Mitchell
    I've never really had a mind for this sort of stuff. That deal with the coupons, I never would have thought of. I had this friend at work that was always finding an angle to take advantage of the expense report system they had -- and we're only talking about risking your career for maybe $75-100 per trip.
     

    jgressley2003

    Expert
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    Feb 2, 2011
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    Miami County
    When I worked at Pizza Hut in high school one of the drivers would clip the $11.99 coupon from the paper every day and save them up. On the weekends she would have deliveries and when people paid full price she would come back, say they had a coupon, and she went ahead and paid them the difference. That trick cost her her job, but who knows how much she made off that?
     

    ATM

    will argue for sammiches.
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    Jul 29, 2008
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    Crawfordsville
    Before computers, we just had to trust the mainstream media to replay things for us that the government really wanted forgotten.

    Some people still trust the mainstream media and the government, but it's now much easier to verify that we shouldn't.

    ;)
     

    WebSnyper

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    Jul 3, 2010
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    Stealing hasn't changed since there have been people, computers make some aspects of theft harder and some easier. Become leadership if you want to make the big time by stealing.


    And the $ to penalty ratio is usually better as well...

    Before computers, we just had to trust the mainstream media to replay things for us that the government really wanted forgotten.

    Some people still trust the mainstream media and the government, but it's now much easier to verify that we shouldn't.

    ;)

    One can certainly do their own research now more easily, but you also have to be careful of your sources on the internet as well, and sometimes it is harder to tell what a good source is.
     

    Woobie

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    Dec 19, 2014
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    Losantville
    I used to work at a factory in Muncie. Our maintenance manager bought carpet for one of the offices, and didn't tell the company it was BOGO. The free carpet went in one of his rentals. A local company turned in a higher bid on a big project than an Indianapolis firm did. But the local company got the job. Right after the company building was finished, the maintenance manager had a new barn pop up on his property and the project engineer went to Hawaii.
     

    JTScribe

    Chicago Typewriter
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    Dec 24, 2012
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    Before computers, we just had to trust the mainstream media to replay things for us that the government really wanted forgotten.

    Some people still trust the mainstream media and the government, but it's now much easier to verify that we shouldn't.

    ;)

    I had a heck of a time explaining to my grandfather how Dan Rather lied about George W. Bush. He thought the world started and stopped on Rather's lips, and went blind long before the Internet and personal computers were a thing.
     
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