In each edition of web_crawlr we have exclusive original content every day. On Mondays our Tech Reporter Mikael Thalen debunks the most wild conspiracy theories swirling around the web in his “One Dumb Conspiracy” column. If you want to read columns like this before everyone else, subscribe to web_crawlr to get your daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to your inbox.

Conspiracy theorists are sounding the alarm over the belief that the government could be tracking them through microchips hidden in cheese. But the crazy part is, at least some of the story is true.

Screenshots circulating across social media purport to show news articles explaining how Italian cheese makers are embedding microchips into their 90-pound Parmesan wheels in order to stop counterfeits. 

“Next Time You Buy Parmesan, Watch Out for the Microchip,” a headline attributed to The Wall Street Journal reads.

Conspiracy theorists have seen the screenshots as proof that the alleged microchips will be used to surveil them once they have been consumed.

“Just, why edible microchips?” one person on X asked. “That's shady AF.”

Others argued that the cheese industry has opted to microchip the populace in lieu of simply cracking down on cheese counterfeiters.

“Microchip technology has to be used for something? How about in your food to protect you from knock off cheese?” another said. “Instead of going after the criminals, they chip your food.”

Believe it or not, the headline and story said to be from The Wall Street Journal is real. Italian cheese makers really are putting microchips in their cheese to fight against counterfeits. 

But as is often the case, the story isn’t as nefarious as conspiracy theorists claim.

For starters, a single microchip is used on each 90-pound cheese wheel. Chances are, you aren’t buying and consuming that amount of cheese. So don’t expect there to be microchips in your next slice.

Secondly, the microchips are the same size as a grain of sand and are embedded into the cheese’s food-safe casein label. When a company or restaurant purchases the cheese, they use a laser reader to scan the wheel’s unique serial ID to verify its authenticity. 

Also, the microchips are edible. The idea that the government or Big Cheese will go around with a laser reader in an attempt to scan a minuscule chip while it's still inside your digestive system is far-fetched. It would be much easier for them to track your phone.

The company behind the chip, Chicago-based p-Chip, also notes that people can’t be tracked after ingesting the chip.

“We don’t want to be known as the company accused of tracking people,” p-Chip Chief Technology Officer Bill Eibon told the Wall Street Journal. “I ate one of the chips and nobody is tracking me, except my wife, and she uses a different method.”

So to all those who consume it, continue enjoying your cheese!

Why it matters

As technology advances, such innovations in the food industry will undoubtedly continue. But those advances will also be met with conspiracy theories. While skepticism isn’t unwarranted, researching such technologies will help you rise above the noise.

Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.

The post Are you being tracked by microchips in your cheese? appeared first on The Daily Dot.

In each edition of web_crawlr we have exclusive original content every day. On Mondays our Tech Reporter Mikael Thalen debunks the most wild conspiracy theories swirling around the web in his “One Dumb Conspiracy” column. If you want to read columns like this before everyone else, subscribe to web_crawlr to get your daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to your inbox.

An explosion at a chemical plant outside of Houston, Texas, has conspiracy theorists convinced once again that America is being sabotaged from within.

Last week, footage of a huge plume of smoke coming from the Sound Resource Solutions plant spread across social media. The plant produces petroleum-based products and carries extremely flammable chemicals such as acetone. Company president Geoff Harfield stated that a “forklift incident” led to the explosion.

Conspiracy theorists, however, are suggesting that something nefarious is afoot.

“These sort of things seem to be happening a lot lately,” one user on X wrote.

“Have explosions always been this popular?” another asked.

In reality, such accidents happen more often than many realize. But ever since numerous high-profile accidents caught the attention of conspiracy theorists this year, such as the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, that led to a controlled burn of hazardous materials, all ensuing accidents have been deemed suspicious.

Some conspiracy theorists argued the fire was a “distraction” from last week’s elections while others suggested the incident could have come from a “terror strike.”

“Totally normal,” one user added. “Not sabotaged or anything.”

“Seems like foreign sabotage of supply chain, probably using domestic/local actors - maybe ones who took advantage of wide open southern border,” another surmised. “But let’s see where the ‘facts’ lead. Prayers for everyone involved there.”

The facts, of course, show no evidence whatsoever of a secret foreign sabotage intended to bring America to its knees. A map released in February by the Coalition to Prevent Chemical Disasters showed that 224 fires, explosions, and toxic chemical releases took place in the previous year.

In other words, such accidents happen fairly often. Most just don’t garner national attention. Either way, conspiracy theorists can’t help but view the world through a paranoid lens that frames every single negative incident as part of a greater plan to enslave them.

Why it matters

When chemical accidents happen, it is important for the public to receive credible information. Distrust of the government is common at such times and isn’t entirely unwarranted. Governments have failed to properly inform the public of certain dangers before. 

But spreading baseless conspiracy theories based on no evidence that the accident was intentional serves no one.

Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.

The post Conspiracy theorists are already calling the Texas chemical plant explosion suspicious appeared first on The Daily Dot.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) debuted his girlfriend for the first time publicly ahead of the third Republican presidential debate Wednesday night.

According to Axios, the mystery woman is Mindy Noce, a design and renovations manager from Charleston, South Carolina.

According to her work's website, Noce is a runner, tennis enthusiast, and mother of three who describes herself as "a mover-and-shaker with a creative eye and love for people!"

Scott says the pair have been dating for about a year—though up until last night, Noce's identity remained private.

Scott faced mounting pressure to divulge his relationship status amid concerns from GOP donors about him being unmarried. The U.S. hasn't elected an unmarried person as president in 139 years, according to Axios.

The South Carolina Republican teased her existence, telling Iowa voters in September that he was dating "a lovely Christian girl" and saying to Fox News that he has "a wonderful girlfriend" and "a wonderful relationship."

In a lengthy piece about Scott's at-the-time unnamed girlfriend from the Washington Post in September, Scott said he "can’t imagine dragging her onto the campaign trail" unless he has "the intention of marrying her."

"I hope that happens, to be honest with you," before doubling back and saying, "I guess I should be careful about how I say that. Strike that comment.”

But despite the long-anticipated hard launch of Noce as his girlfriend, social media conspiracists are alleging Scott still doesn't actually have a girlfriend.

"They look like just met prior to the debate he’s not fooling anyone!" wrote one user on X.

"If he makes it to the next debate, she’s going to be able to charge him a fortune," wrote another person.

"Contract expires as soon as he drops out," commented someone else.

"How much is he paying her?" asked one user.

"What a cute fake couple they are," someone else said.

Noce came to watch the debate and greeted Scott on stage afterward.

Scott—the only Black Republican in the presidential race—entered the primary field in May, kicking off his campaign by saying, “our party and our nation are standing at a time for choosing: Victimhood or victory.”

According to RealClearPolitics' average of recent primary polls, Scott is pulling 2.5%, putting him in sixth place.

Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.

The post ‘What a cute fake couple’: Tim Scott’s big girlfriend reveal does little to quell speculation about his personal life appeared first on The Daily Dot.

Conservatives are blaming President Joe Biden for the March 2023 school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, after right-wing vlogger Steven Crowder published a portion of the perpetrator's alleged manifesto.

The shooting, carried out by a transgender man who had previously attended the school, resulted in the death of three children and three adults.

In the wake of the tragedy, police declined to immediately release a manifesto written by the shooter while an investigation was ongoing. The decision was seen by conservatives as proof that the shooter's transgender identity had been to blame for the tragedy and that a coverup was underway to hide that fact.

But following the release of three pages from the alleged manifesto by Crowder, conservatives are changing their tune given that no mention of gender identity is made. Instead, the shooter railed against white privilege and referred to white children as "crackers," leading conservatives to shift the goalposts, instead blaming liberal politics and more notably President Joe Biden.

Users on X are citing a compilation of remarks from Biden in which he correctly labeled white supremacist violence as the most common form of domestic terrorism. However, according to conservatives, concerns over such violence is nothing more than a "false threat."

"With Biden constantly using the false threat of white supremacy to divide and scare people, it was just a matter of time before someone became radicalized and took matters into their own hands," one user wrote.

Others accused the Biden administration of covering up the shooting and gaslighting Americans. Some even blamed former President Barack Obama for ongoing racial tensions while repeating the conspiracy theory that he is secretly running the Biden White House under a third term.

The talking point regarding Biden's alleged culpability quickly caught on. Chaya Raichik, who runs the Libs of TikTok account, similarly claimed without evidence that the shooter may have been radicalized by Biden.

"Holy sh*t! It’s possible Biden radicalized the trans Nashville shooter to hate white people with all his rhetoric around 'white supremacy.,'" she wrote. "This would make Biden a stochastic terrorist according to the Left’s rules. Wow."

Some even went as far as to directly blame Biden for the shooter's six victims.

"Biden killed those kids in Nashville #audreyhale," one user wrote.

Of course, no conspiracy theory is complete without an ever more ridiculous conspiracy theory to top it. Some users are even suggesting that Biden released the manifesto himself to distract the public from family controversies.

There's no evidence at this time, based on the alleged manifesto pages, that indicate the shooter was in any way convinced to carry out their attack after hearing Biden condemn white supremacy.

Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.

The post Biden now blamed for Nashville shooting as conservatives claim president’s ‘white supremacy’ rhetoric radicalized shooter appeared first on The Daily Dot.

Conspiracy theorists are claiming that former President Barack Obama is currently serving a secret third term, advising President Joe Biden on a number of issues, including how to harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and use it against them.

Over the weekend, far-right mouthpiece Laura Loomer joined in on the theory after NBC News reported that Obama had been advising the White House on AI at the request of Biden.

The news, according to Loomer, showed not only that Obama is the actual president but that he intends to use AI to target supporters of former President Donald Trump.

"I HOPE EVERYONE IS PAYING ATTENTION! BARRACK HUSSEIN IS GOING TO PUSH FOR AI TO TARGET TRUMP SUPPORTERS! MARK MY WORD!" Loomer hysterically wrote on X. "THIS IS OBAMA’S 3rd TERM!! OBAMA IS CALLING THE SHOTS IN THE ILLEGITIMATE BIDEN REGIME!"

Although NBC News indicates that Obama's help came to an end last week after Biden signed an executive order creating government oversight of AI development, Trump supporters reacted furiously to the admission from the White House.

"Not the only thing Obama has advised the White House on," another user said, despite reporting to the contrary. "Obama’s third term! Trump won."

"This isn't Joe Biden's 1st term," a conservative state representative added. "It's Barack Obama's 3rd."

Some falsely suggested that such a collaboration was unconstitutional. Other conspiracy theorists, who have simultaneously been claiming that both Trump and Obama are actually the current president, felt vindicated by the news.

"It should read President Obama is currently running the White House in his shadow third term," one commenter said of the NBC News article.

Yet the notion was also widely mocked on the social media platform by those familiar with the conspiratorial and debunked claims of Loomer and others.

"Good to know Biden consults past Presidents on important decisions," one user said. "What past Presidents would even talk to Trump?"

"Loomer, are you not tired of baseless conspiracy theories," a second user said. "Obama is living rent free in the heads of MAGA and Trump."

Presidents seeking input and guidance from their predecessors is not an unusual or new phenomenon. The reporting from NBC News also never once mentions Trump supporters, despite Loomer's remarks.

The conspiracy theory has been circulating online in multiple forms ever since Biden's election victory. Even Trump has repeatedly suggested to his followers that Obama is secretly running the Biden administration.

"It’s never been worse than it is now under crooked Joe Biden and, frankly, his boss, Barack Hussein Obama," Trump said last month during a campaign stop. "I think it’s his boss."

Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.

The post ‘Shadow third term’: Why conspiracy theorists think Obama is secretly running the Biden administration appeared first on The Daily Dot.

Deplatformed is a weekly column that looks into the nether reaches of the internet—outside the big few that everyone already covers—to tell you the political discourse online. It runs on Thursdays in the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter. If you want to get this column a day before we publish it, subscribe to web_crawlr, where you’ll get the daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to your inbox.

1) Would you sit next to her in a theater?

Far-right Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) created quite a stir when she was booted from the musical Beetlejuice after vaping and …. publicly carousing during the performance. 

Surveillance video showed both Boebert and her date getting handsy, which led to plenty of memes and consternation about her behavior. 

But it also raised a question floating around Gettr right now. 

Would you sit next to her in a theater? 

A user on the site, OHMichael, for reasons you won’t believe (seriously, read through), has been generating AI images of Lauren Boebert asking his quarter million followers, “would you sit in a theatre with her?”

The pics are provocative, with a computer-generated Boebert in short, sheer dresses. The consensus of Gettr’s user base is “yes.” 

“Yes,” wrote “@edwardthevampire. “Yes,” wrote @GAR44.

Others were much more explicit in their response. 

“Beside her, under her or anywhere she wants me.”

So why did OHMichael do it?

“These pictures below I posted yesterday are not real …  If you fell for the A.I. photos, then you are as well falling for the Israel/Palestine photos posted everywhere because majority of what’s being put out coming out of the war on both sides is A.I. believe me or not.”

2) Seth Rich conspiracy theorists fund Seth conspiracy theorist 

In the run-up to the 2016 election, and in its immediate aftermath, some of the most notorious conspiracy pushers online dedicated tremendous amounts of airtime and blog space to pushing the claim that a murdered DNC staffer, Seth Rich, was behind WikiLeaks’ release of Hillary Clinton’s emails. Rich was shot in a still unsolved burglary, but the timing, during the heat of the election, led some to speculate that the Clinton campaign was enacting revenge for the damaging dump. 

One of the biggest pushers of the conspiracy was Matt Couch, who was forced in March 2018 toretract the numerous claims he made across his website the DC Patriot, where he even looped in Rich’s brother, claiming the two conspired to commit the crime. 

“Today we retract and disavow our statements and we offer our apology to Mr. Rich and his family,” said Couch in a video he was required to post. “I take full responsibility for my actions … and would like to apologize to Mr. Rich and his family.”

However, the far-right hasn’t seemed to have abandoned Couch. According to a GiveSendGo, he recently had his leg amputated after being hospitalized with blood clots. The fundraiser wants $100,000 for a prosthetic leg.

The page even shouts out his conspiratorial work, noting “Matt fought for the truth since 2016, sacrificing it all with investigation into Fast & Furious [and] Seth Rich's still unsolved murder.”

Wouldn’t you know it, one of the donors, Jim Hoft of the Gateway Pundit, was also instrumental in pushing the Seth Rich conspiracy. 

He gave $200.

3) Pricey Police State 

Recently, Rumble announced a big get. 

Dinesh D’Souza’s new film, Police State, dubbed “his scariest and timeliest” work ever, would debut exclusively on Rumble. The feature-length film goes after Democrats and the deep state for their persecution of Republicans and Jan. 6 arrestees.

Only it wasn’t quite “streaming” on Rumble, it was available to purchase, for the low cost of $25. Not to buy, but to rent. 

In the comments, even D’Souza fans were frustrated by the high cost.

“You have to click ‘buy access’ and pay 25 bucks...and you only get it for 72 hours? For that much you should have unlimited access or a DVD. WTF? Sorry, not going there. If it was 10 bucks I'd be watching it right now…”

“lol $24.99 to rent a movie? Nope.”

“Sorry, I'm not paying $25 for this. All of us are struggling to survive and to help restore all our countries,” wrote one, concluding with an admonishment for the ages. “NO PATRIOT HIDES HIS WORK BEHIND A PAYWALL.”

Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.

The post Gettr is hot for AI Lauren Boebert appeared first on The Daily Dot.

The official government account for Israel deleted a post on X promoting the conspiracy that crisis actors in Palestine are faking their deaths amid Israel's war with Hamas.

The war, launched Oct. 7 in the wake of Hamas' brutal attack against Israeli civilians, has had a massive death toll across both nations.

At least 1,400 people in Israel have been killed and about 200 remain in captivity as hostages in Gaza. The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza says more than 8,000 people have been killed, nearly half of whom were children.

Some critics have questioned the veracity of the casualty numbers coming from Gaza, including President Joe Biden, who said last Wednesday he has "no notion if Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed" and "no confidence in the number that Palestinians are using."

The United Nations and multiple humanitarian organizations believe the figures from the Health Ministry are broadly accurate and have been historically reliable.

A frequent conspiracy theory cited by individuals doubting the veracity of the casualty figures is the baseless belief that Palestinians are employing crisis actors to pretend to be dead.

One such conspiracy theory was promoted by the official State of Israel last week before being taken down on Wednesday.

"Reminder: The Gaza Ministry of Health=Hamas," Israel wrote in its initial post. "Bodies can't move their heads."

Misinformation has proliferated amid the war.

Footage that supposedly showed body bags moving has been repeatedly shared since the war broke out. The body bag clip was filmed in 2013 in Egypt. 

Another image of an alleged crisis actor is a child's Halloween costume which was taken at least a year ago.

A separate instance of misinformation is a video showing a woman in a hijab dabbing fake blood and makeup onto people to make it appear they’ve been severely wounded. The video is not from the current conflict but can be traced back to a 2017 news report about the film industry in Gaza, according to the Associated Press.

Wednesday's deletion by Israel's X account is not the first time the government has promoted and then walked back posts promoting the conspiracy theory.

Mashable reporter Matt Binder noted in late October that Israel deleted a post in which it wrote "the devil works hard but Gaza's film industry works harder."

The post implied a Palestinian man had pretended to be hospitalized, but the images actually showed different people, according to Binder.

"on the left is Saleh Aljafarawi, found on Instagram posting footage from Gaza as saleh_aljafarawe the person in the hospital is 16 yo Mohammed Zendiq," Binder wrote. "the footage was posted on TikTok in August when he was hospitalized after losing his leg during an IDF raid in the West Bank."

Israel also deleted a post after people objected to its genocidal tone.

Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.

The post Israel goes full ‘crisis actor’ mode, pushes old body bag videos to claim death toll in Gaza is fake appeared first on The Daily Dot.

Conspiracy theorists are promoting a theory that Russian President Vladimir Putin died on Thursday and the Kremlin has been using a body double since, prompting swift condemnation from Putin's spokesperson.

Dmitry Peskov reportedly called such claims "absurd" and untrue. Peskov earlier last week also refuted rumors that Putin had suffered a cardiac arrest, stating then that "there are no doubles" and "everything is fine" with the Russian leader.

Rumors and conspiracies surrounding Putin's health have circulated for months, but the latest bout—that he is actually dead—can largely be traced back to two sources that promoted the theory.

The first is a Telegram post by the Russian gossip channel General SVR that stated Putin had passed away at his residence in Valdai at "20.42 p.m Moscow time" on Thursday, sparking "a coup d'état in Russia!"

"Now the doctors are blocked in the room with Putin's corpse, they are being held by employees of the presidential security service on the personal order of Dmitry Kochnev, who is in touch and receives instructions from the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Nikolai Patrushev," the post added.

General SVR went on to claim that security for Putin's body double had been strengthened and that attempts to pass the supposed double off as Putin amounted to a coup d'état.

Russian political analyst Valery Solovey pushed the same report in an interview earlier this week, claiming that Putin's body "is in the refrigerator compartment of his residence in Valdai."

Solovey previously predicted that Putin would die by the end of fall and also pushed body double claims.

"He killed [P]utin so many times now, he really needs to see a psychiatrist," joked one X user about the interview.

Similar conspiracies about his death have been floated before.

One X user posted their belief that Putin actually died in 2013. Another wrote, "Putin has died," alongside three images purporting to show three different Putins.

Even Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in January questioned if Putin was still alive.

"I don't quite understand who to talk to and about what. I'm not sure that Russia's president, who sometimes appears against the chroma key is really him," Zelenskyy said about the possibility of peace talks, according to the Kyiv Independent.

While reports of Putin's death are limited to gossip channels and rumors not backed up with independent reports, there are more credible reports that Putin's health has deteriorated (the Kremlin denies this).

U.S. intelligence officials told Newsweek that in April 2022, Putin underwent treatment for advanced cancer. The New York Post separately reported on a Russian intelligence source that alleged Putin had also been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.

The post ‘He is in the refrigerator’: Russian conspiracy theorists keep forcing the Kremlin to deny that Putin is dead appeared first on The Daily Dot.

In each edition of web_crawlr we have exclusive original content every day. On Mondays our Tech Reporter Mikael Thalen debunks the most wild conspiracy theories swirling around the web in his “One Dumb Conspiracy” column. If you want to read columns like this before everyone else, subscribe to web_crawlr to get your daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to your inbox.

A conspiracy theory tearing through social media claims that Special Forces soldiers in Russia just crushed an “Adrenochrome cartel” in Ukraine. And as you guessed, it’s all nonsense.

For those who don’t remember, Adrenochrome is the substance that conspiracy theorists falsely believe is harvested and consumed by the world’s elite from the adrenal glands of children.

It has its roots, among other things, in the Johnny Depp movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Despite claims from conspiracy theorists that the substance causes hallucinations, it is not in any way a hallucinogenic or intoxicating substance.

Still, the Adrenochrome nonsense persists. And while it has died down, it has managed to rear its head once again. On X, users have been sharing an article with the headline “Special Forces-Spetznas Team Crushes Adrenochrome Cartel in Ukraine.”

“When the dark reality of adrenochrome finally hit me, it took me 2 weeks to emotionally process that truth,” one user wrote while sharing the article. “And I think we are finally shutting it down.  The Spetznas and Special Forces (yes: Russians + Americans!).”

But the claim that Ukraine is running some sort of Adrenochrome cartel is just as baseless as the American-made conspiracy theory that biological weapons labs are located in Ukraine. Unsurprisingly, Russia has repeatedly amplified these far-right, American conspiracy theories critical of Ukraine.

Incredibly, the story even claims that “three dozen medical-grade refrigerators, often used to chill Adrenochrome, and 6,000 grams of fentanyl, one of several synthetic opioids common in Adrenochrome formulations,” were found during a raid in Ukraine.

Yet the site that reported the so-called news, known as Real Raw News, is a certified fake news website that even admits to spreading satire on its About page.

Despite the site being debunked on a daily basis, its ability to craft narratives that excite conspiracy theorists has allowed it to flourish for years under numerous names.

So, if your uncle from Facebook ever cites Real Raw News, you might want to let him know. In reality, Adrenochrome is a QAnon-based fantasy. 

Why it matters

The Adrenochrome theory, while easily debunked, remains ever-popular among the far-right. Since the beginning of the Donald Trump era, conspiracy theories that once were relegated to the darkest corners of the internet are now believed by mainstream conservatives.

Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.

The post No, Russia didn’t just crush Ukraine’s ‘Adrenochrome cartel’ appeared first on The Daily Dot.

Bargain stores are known for selling name-brand beauty products for a fraction of the original price. But what if our pursuit of a bargain comes at a much higher cost than we thought? TikToker Natalia (@real.natalia) felt compelled to investigate this after hearing that some discount stores were putting used makeup products back on shelves.

"Allegedly, it's believed that these stores don't trash out these used items," she told viewers. "But instead, they just put it back on the shelf for the next customer to purchase."

"So, I'm going to walk into the store, I'm going to try to grab a nice untouched ... eye shadow palette, take it home with me ... and start messing with it," she explained. "And then after that, I'm going to leave, like, a marking on the box, just so like when I come back, and if I see this item back in there, we'll see if that same mark that I had left on the box is still there. That's how I'll know that it was never trashed, and it was just put back on the shelf."

Natalia then took 1.1 million TikTok viewers with her into an unnamed discount store and did just that. In the video, she bought three "untouched" beauty products—two Sephora eye shadow palettes and Truly Beauty's Moon Jelly face mask—tampered with them at home, then attempted to return the items to see if the store would resell them.

"So when I walked up there, and I told them that I wanted to buy these items, I asked the [store assistant] if it was OK to return these items," Natalia said. "And she said that I can return these items as long as they're untouched, that I can open them, look at them, but I can't touch them. And I have 30 days to return them."

When it came to returning the tampered products, Natalia claimed that while the shop assistant "went to look at the items," they "[gave] up halfway and [didn't] even bother looking at the items."

@real.natalia @shanedawson this was crazy… #discountstore #conspiracytiktok #conspiracy ♬ original sound - Natalia

"She [didn't] even open them," Natalia added. "Just put them to the side and [gave] me my money."

The next day, Natalia filmed herself returning to the store and found all three items back on the shelf. Upon inspection, she confirmed to viewers that the items on the shelves were the exact same ones she returned.

"People put that on their face," she added. "Like, I don't even know how to feel right now."

Though Natalia didn't specify which discount store she visited in her video, many viewers in the comments section speculated that it was TJ Maxx. Some commenters even claimed to work for TJ Maxx and admitted to restocking used items.

"Tj max is just asking for a lawsuit," one commenter wrote.

"There was a fb post about a mom looking for her sons dirty security blanket and found it for sale in tj maxx where her son lost it lol," a second said.

One viewer who said they used to work for the company shared, "I used to work at tjmaxx, my manager once approved a return for skid mark period stained underwear. I SWEAR."

"I worked at tjmaxx and they would literally put anything back on the shelf used or not!" another added.

One commenter even suggested that the problem goes beyond discount stores.

"I turned my manager at Ulta in to corporate for putting used stuff back on the shelves," they wrote. "It's not just discount stores."

Update 1:30pm CT, Oct. 31: Another TikToker shared that she developed an eye infection after buying and using a $9.99 Too Faced mascara that she found at "one of the discount stores." This led her to suspect the mascara was used. "It was packaged like it was brand new," @abbiemariee says in her video, which was viewed over 16,000 times. "They sold me used mascara 'cause why else would I get an eye infection?"

These TikToks, however, haven't stopped some from flocking to stores like TJ Maxx in hopes of finding high-end beauty products at a discounted price.

Natalia and TJ Maxx didn't immediately respond to Daily Dot's request for comment via email.

Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.

The post ‘My jaw is on the floor’: Customer tests theory that discount stores like TJ Maxx resell used beauty products (updated) appeared first on The Daily Dot.