CIA Vending Machine Snack Theft Behind Firings: Report

Stealing $3,000 worth of snacks from vending machines: That's why several contracted CIA staffers were fired in 2013, BuzzFeed learned after a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.

The staff used a hack to get free food out of the vending machines, BuzzFeed reported. After the thefts began to get noticed, the Office of Inspector General installed cameras at several of the machines and caught “numerous perpetrators,” who then admitted to the thefts and were fired.

One of the employees apparently masterminded the hack and passed information on to several colleagues who then used the same method to steal snacks, BuzzFeed said.

The thefts took place between fall 2012 and March 2013 and totaled $3,314.40 in food, the outlet reported.

The fired workers’ names were not identified in the report, the New York Post reported. The Office of the Attorney General referred the case to the Department of Justice, but the CIA declined to prosecute.

Twitter users wondered how the fired workers would explain their actions to future employers.

You gotta feel like a dumbass to lose a CIA job because you stole from a vending machine smh

— Kyle (@Kylillinois) June 21, 2017

Imagine explaining in a job interview your reason for termination from the CIA was for "hacking a vending machine"

— Austin Butler (@TheButtman69) June 21, 2017

I don't know who to feel more dumbfounded by, the ones making the vending machine or the ones engaging in petty workplace theft from the CIA

— Jim Gray (@grayj_) June 21, 2017

If there's one place you don't want to hack a vending machine, I think the CIA would be on the top of the list.

— Chris Capaldi (@Elaneium) June 21, 2017