When a man in a black Air Jordan T-shirt walked up to a self-checkout kiosk at a Louisiana Lowe's last spring, he looked like any other customer.
Over the course of about seven minutes, he methodically rang up different gift cards for $95 each, using his phone to tap-to-pay for each card as a red-vested associate circled nearby, surveillance video showed.
Unknown to the employee, the man was part ...
