Man goes to Walmart and finds a $30 box of Titleist Pro V1 golf balls. Then he looks inside: ‘Callaway?’

A man thought he came across a steal on golf balls while shopping at Walmart. Then he opened the box and discovered a few rocks and an obvious scam. 

In a video that received more than 289,000 views, Steve (@thestevejuice) explained how an everyday trip to the big-box retailer resulted in him finding a retail fraud scheme. The content creator said that upon closer examination, he realized that someone did a swap-out—they took a few expensive golf balls and replaced them with rocks.

A box of surprises

Steve went to Walmart to get some golf balls as a gift for a friend. Then he found some “Titleist Pro V1” golf balls, which were available in the clearance section. Before leaving the store with the golf balls, the man opened the box.

Upon easing it open, Steve realized that there was an entirely different product inside. Steve panned his camera over a box full of Callaway golf balls.

“So I'm looking, I'm like, ‘What the heck? Callaway? That's, that's not Titleist,'” he said. “ I'm like, ‘There's a four. Cool. There's a one.' I'm like, ‘These are not the right ones.'”

Steve moved his camera and found something even more off-putting—a rock inside one of the golf ball containers. As he examined the box further, he realized there was a mix of Callaway golf balls and rocks inside it.

“Someone really took every golf ball out and filled the box with rocks so it would still have some weight to it,” Steve wrote in his caption.

@thestevejuice Found Titleist Pro V1s on clearance at Walmart for $30 a box and thought I hit the jackpot… Then I checked the LAST box. ROCKS. Someone really took every golf ball out and filled the box with rocks so it would still have some weight to it Moral of the story: always check the box before you leave. #WalmartFinds #WalmartClearance #GolfTok #Titleist #ProV1 ♬ original sound – Caresha

Is this return fraud?

The lack of Titleist golf balls spelled out one answer—it appeared as though someone who returned them committed a return fraud scheme.

Replacing items with cheaper alternatives is a common retail fraud scheme. Typically, a person will find something with a similar weight. They'll then return it to a store and hope that employees don't search through the box before putting it back on the shelf.

Surprisingly, the scheme works. One woman reportedly purchased a box of Huggies that contained old clothing instead of diapers. In another older retail fraud scheme, a scammer replaced a Nintendo DS with rocks, according to TechCrunch. The store reportedly sold the Nintendo DS two different times without realizing why it had been returned.

What did viewers think?

In the comment section, viewers shared their own experiences coming face-to-face with retail fraud.

“Yep, my mom bought her [son-in-law] drills for Christmas; one of them got a rock,” a commenter said.

Another viewer said, “I bought a router from Walmart, and it had trash and a small bible in it.”

Others joked about Walmart's lack of awareness regarding what was on store shelves.

“Walmart just passing the robbery over to another customer,” a commenter jokingly said.

Buzz News reached out to Walmart via contact form and to Steve via TikTok direct message for comment.