Eli5: how do anti theft radio frequency tags know i bought an item

Question

for context i just bought 3 bags of beef jerky from 5 below and they all had one of those square tags with the lines on them and i only scanned one 3 times at the self checkout how do they get deactivated

Edit [https://imgur.com/a/c3DFJFg](https://imgur.com/a/c3DFJFg) here’s a picture of it

In: Other

Answer 1

The black lines do not seem to connect and loop with each other. The RFID needs them to so it can detect and react to the radio signal. It’s supposed to be a single uninterrupted circuit path. This may be a fake sticker to deter theft.