Greed is Not Good

Thomas Langenbach, who lives in a $2 million home in San Carlos, Calif., and is a top executive at German software giant SAP, allegedly plastered his homemade bar codes on Legos at the Cupertino Target. After taking them home, he sold them on eBay using the name “tomsbrickyard,” according to police.
"In his house, we found hundreds of boxes of unopened Lego sets," Liz Wylie, a spokeswoman for the Mountain View police, told the Mercury News. "He sold 2,100 items in just over a year on eBay, and made $30,000.”v Police were tipped off by loss prevention officers at Target. They spotted him on security tape buying the toys at unsanctioned discounts (he'd mark down $100 sets to $30) and put out fliers alerting clerks to the scam.
On May 8, a loss prevention officer on duty at the Mountain View Target recognized Langenbach and trailed him through the store, observing as he allegedly placed his own bar codes on several items. After he checked out, store security detained him until police arrived.
Armed with a search warrant, cops found a massive stockpile of Legos in Langenbach’s house, as well as dozens of his homemade bar code stickers in his car.


Interesting scam perpetrated by Langenbach and quite genius actually. He didn't get caught because of a flaw in his system, it was his greed that allowed him to be apprehended. I have always said this about counterfeiters. If you can make really good counterfeit bills you can probably pass them at any store in town and get away with it. What's wrong with never paying for a meal or gas or groceries ever again with little fear of getting caught. The problem is when they get greedy and try to buy a Jaguar in cash.
And this is what brought down Mr. Langenbach. And he probably didn't even need the money. He was an executive at SAP and living in a fancy home. He probably did it just for the thrill of getting away with something. If I were to do this I would go once a week to Target, maybe to Toys R Us, perhaps to a couple different locations and buy one set at a time. You'd be the best dad ever, and could even make a few bucks on eBay if you choose to fence the items. But when you buy 2,000 Lego sets you start to raise suspicion.