Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Jul 23, 2025

Fast food, retail workers on TikTok claim they collect rewards points from customers' leftover receipts

Fast food, retail workers on TikTok claim they collect rewards points from customers' leftover receipts

Customers who leave receipts behind might be leaving rewards points for others to grab, TikTok videos show

Customers who decide they don’t want to take their printed receipt at checkout could be helping cashiers and other retail employees collect reward points from their purchases.

Several retail workers have turned to TikTok to say they are snapping photos of abandoned receipts so they can redeem reward points from various cash-back apps.

Fetch, a rewards app that lets users rack up points in exchange for gift cards, is one platform that has attracted retail workers, as seen with the trending TikTok hashtag #fetchrewards, which has more than 501.4 million views.

Retail employees have documented their alleged rewards point redemption while dressed in work uniforms.

Fetch is a digital rewards app that awards points for scanned grocery, shopping and restaurant receipts, which can be redeemed for gift cards.



A Florida-based Publix employee, who goes by the TikTok handle @thatgirl.sonti, recently uploaded a video that suggested she scans customer receipts that have been left behind.

"Me when y’all say y’all don’t want y’all receipts back," she wrote in a text overlay while she held up a receipt to the camera in what appears to be a cashier station.

The video has been deleted from the platform, but other TikTok videos that have been tagged with the #fetchrewards hashtag show workers exhibiting similar behavior.

An apparent McDonald’s employee uploaded a video to her @he444gabryella account on April 19 with a caption that reads, "If [you know, you know]."

The seven-second video has been set to the song "Say ‘Click’" from Nickelodeon’s animated series "Go, Diego, Go!" and it has been viewed by thousands.


The song, which appears to be a part of a larger trend of retail workers who reveal that they take pictures of customer receipts, was used by TikTok user @teneillanaii of Orlando, who appeared to be a Tropical Smoothie Cafe employee in July 2022.

"Me taking a picture of y’all receipts for my receipt app," she wrote in the video’s text overlay.

At the time of publication, the video has received more than 4.9 million views, 879,500 likes, 44,300 saves, 12,100 shares and 7,855 comments.


Another viral video from November 2022 showed a retail employee snapping photos of receipts while wearing a headset.

"Need me a [PlayStation Network] card," the TikTok user captioned his video, which has been viewed more than 1.7 million times.

It’s not immediately clear if some retail workers are joking about using customer receipts for cash-back rewards.

Not all customers collect their receipts from cashiers. Some retail workers appear to be taking advantage of this by claiming cash-back rewards earned by customers for their own benefit with various rewards apps, according to viral TikTok videos.


FOX Business reached out to Publix, McDonald’s and Tropical Smoothie Cafe for comment.

Fetch is reportedly partnered with more than 500 brands that allow customers to redeem reward points, including multibillion-dollar companies like General Mills, Pepsi and L'Oréal, according to the company’s website.

Viral videos on TikTok show grocery store employees and other retail food service workers are scanning abandoned customer receipts to redeem rewards points.


Users of the app can collect reward points for purchases made in grocery, restaurant, cleaning supplies, personal hygiene, health and wellness, baby, pet and department store categories.

Collected points can be redeemed for gift cards, most of which are delivered electronically, according to Fetch.

"We love seeing our users on the hunt for points, but we do have a few rules in place to maintain the integrity of our platform," a Fetch spokesperson wrote to FOX Business in an emailed statement.

"Per our Terms of Service, Fetch users are only permitted to snap receipts from purchases that they have made personally, and those who violate the TOS are subject to removal from the app," the statement continued. "This policy ensures a level playing field and allows us to continue delivering value to millions of consumers."


TikTok users who have seen the viral videos of retail workers redeeming rewards points from leftover customer receipts appear to be divided on the topic in various comment sections.

"Ain’t dat illegal?" one TikTok user questioned.

"I MEAN the receipts were going to be thrown out anyway sooo might as well redeem my points," another TikTok user reasoned. "But I stopped cause I thought my job would find out."

"Use to do dis at Chick-fil-A," another user wrote.

"Nah I was mad as hell going home to scan my receipt and they said it had already been used," another TikTok user vented.

Rewards apps have policies that outline who can redeem points on scanned receipts, but enforcement appears to be a challenge.


Videos linked to the #fetchrewards hashtag on TikTok have also shown that people outside the retail service industry are collecting receipts that have been left behind by strangers.

In some cases, TikTok users have documented themselves or friends and family sorting through trash or dumpster diving for receipts that can be entered into reward apps.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
×