Quick change scam

[saturnz_dragon]

I was wondering how many others have experienced this scam. For those of you that don't know, it's when someone buys something small, like a pack of gum, with a large bill, such as $100. Then he'll ask for his change back in multiple ways until the cashier gets confused and he ends up with more money than he should have gotten back. This happened to me once when I first started cashiering and he got away with $300. I felt horrible, but of course I didn't get in trouble because I didn't know any better. Now I tell all the new cashiers about this scam and how to avoid it.

I had another person try it on me a few months after the first time, but I stopped her dead in her tracks and she got pissed off and stormed out. Oh well. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. I can assure you that no one will ever pull that shit on me again.

[South Texan]

I was at the cash register of a fast food taco chain when it first was tried on me. Luckily, my manager micro-managed us and heard it start. She stepped in and foiled the con by making the $97 in change in large bills first, handing them to the guy, then telling him he could hand her back the individual bills he wanted her to break. After the first twenty was broken, the guy figured out she was on to him and left.

I watched Paper Moon a year or so later, and saw how the con was pulled off in the movie. It was exactly what the guy was starting with me.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Oh yeah, we've had those people come by. Actually, it was only once I know of, and their scam didn't work. Short-change artists had been hitting other stores with success and their LP people were giving us the heads-up with descriptions of the scammers and how they carried out the scam.

Our policy is change is never to be made at the registers. If somebody asks you to make change at the register, you shut your drawer and send the person to the service desk, where it isn't so easy to get the clerk confused and switching bills.

[Plaidman]

Heh. People try that shit with me all the time. It never works on me, because I'm... well... smart. I can count. Not to mention once I break a change, and they ask for more, I stop them period by saying sorry, thats all the change I can give. You want more, buy more. I do not buy change unless I feel like it.


And not to pry or call you stupid, but how did you give 300 dollars out?!

[RetailWorkhorse]

*Raises hand*

Guilty. And I STILL don't wanna talk about it.

I have since had Dad teach it to me so it doesn't happen again. Come to think about it, it's about time for another round.

[underemployeed]

Heh. People try that shit with me all the time. It never works on me, because I'm... well... smart. I can count. Not to mention once I break a change, and they ask for more, I stop them period by saying sorry, thats all the change I can give. You want more, buy more. I do not buy change unless I feel like it.


And not to pry or call you stupid, but how did you give 300 dollars out?!

Yeah, I stop short of calling them out on it, of course I get the ones that switch a $20 bill with a $1 or $5. Only one guy got it over on me, because my manger stepped in and as policy we can't argue with customers, rather than audit my drawer and catch him she just customer serviced it out after later watching the video and seeing what he did.

The other two times it has happened no management was around and I got to argue with them, and they gave up because the one time I only had a single $20 in my drawer called the plauge because it wouldn't drop and I had to buy it off a manager so he could close down his drawer before leaving. So I KNOW, I gave it to this guy. He said "well we will deal with it later", went out pumped his $5 in gas. and came back in to tell me he found the $20 he accidential switched it with a $5 he originally intended to apy with until he decided to break his $50, and he forgot to count before putting the money back in his pocket. and then took it out again and got it mixed up.... He saw me writing down A LOT of information about him while he pumped his gas.

NOW I have a procedure:
If someone breaks out a $50 or $100 I instantly double my guard.
Say <amount> out of $50
Physically Count back the change to them, and stare at them till they walk away.

because

every time I had it happen it was with a $50, ESPECIALLY if they want $5 in gas on a pump that hard to see. As the one guy had me put $15 on pump 5, then told me he said $5 on pump 15, which is how he was able to switch out the $20 when he handed the money back because I was distracted grabing a $10 out of the drawer, so i slide it all back over and noticed that wait where the $20 go.

Another guy did It when I was cashing out lottery, He won $25, I handed over a $20 and $5. I looked outside to grab a plate of a pump I just turned on,
scammer siad "You shorted me"
I looked at the $1, and $5 in his hand
me: "I handed you $20"
scammer: "No you didn't"
me: "I gave you my only $20 " <- thats a lie
scammer: "Your drawer is going to be over"
me: shrugged shoulders "Oh well"
scammer, turns around and leaves.
Next customer "Did you really short him?"
me: "Do you really think, he wouldn't have instantly noticed a $1 instead of $20? and would have left so easily?"
next customer: "Thats a good point!"

I make it a point to be a complete DICK, to those "Customers" because they aren't the kind of people we want in the store, they just ripping us off. I really hate that my manger can't give me a :censored: raise, but will turn over $20 to some :censored: who can't get a real job. which is 3 hrs of my work in 5min, I take that shit personally.

[Summerfly413]

I don't think it's ever happened to me. I took a fake hundred once, but that's another story.

I can't recall someone trying to switch up the amount or type of bills. And I'll always look at the change owed, count it out, count it again, and sometimes count a third time if I'm giving a lot of change.

[vstorevigilante]

I don't think it's ever happened to me. I took a fake hundred once, but that's another story.

I can't recall someone trying to switch up the amount or type of bills. And I'll always look at the change owed, count it out, count it again, and sometimes count a third time if I'm giving a lot of change.

When I worked at the theatre we had to watch an hour-long video about how to spot fake money... it was terrible, but informative. And yet I still accepted a fake $50 bill on a busy night! All the preparation in the world can't prevent everything.

[Andara Bledin]

It's been a long time since I worked a cash register, but I do believe someone tried to pull this with me, once.

But I have an exceptional grasp of math and numbers, and am very anal about how I handle other people's money, so my natural inclinations shut them down before they could even get started.

It wasn't until I started reading stories here about quick-change scammers that I realized what they'd likely been trying. It's only stuck with me so long because the way they kept wanting different denominations of change was a bit odd.

^-.-^

[arminius58]

I've never had this happen to me, but I refuse to take anything over a 20 when I'm in charge of the money that night. I'm one of the few people in the store that drops anything above a five into the safe like we're supposed to, so I tell the customer that they can either wait half an hour for change or they can have it all in ones and fives.

[TelephoneAngel]

when i have worked on cash desks i have always put the cashnote the customer gave me, not immediately into the cashdrawer, but just above it, then if the customer says i only gave change for a five and it was a twenty, i can show them the five they gave me still sitting on top of the cashdrawer.

[vstorevigilante]

when i have worked on cash desks i have always put the cashnote the customer gave me, not immediately into the cashdrawer, but just above it, then if the customer says i only gave change for a five and it was a twenty, i can show them the five they gave me still sitting on top of the cashdrawer.

This is exactly what we were taught to do at the theatre, and is probably the most valuable thing I took from my time there. Employers I've had since have looked at me like I have ten heads, and questioned why I was "Leaving the cash on the counter!", I explained my reasoning, and they always understand. It's a fantastic way to stop scammers (and even non-scammers who just genuinely think you shortchanged them).

[phantasy]

I've been scammed before, it's what Baltimoreans call a "flam-flam". An incredibly well dressed guy comes in, gold rings and pim-looking outfit in a grocery store with his little girlfriend. He pretends not to know her, and after he paid a pack of gum with a $100 bill, pretends to meet her and want to buy her another candy or something. He wanted to confuse me into giving X amount of change back if he gave me a $20 bill, or something. To this day I don't know what happened.

I immediately knew what happened, shut my till and told him to GTFO. My manager was upset until I explained what happened. I ended up $20 short and had to pay it back. It literally made me cry, knowing that I could be that stupid.

[QUOTE=Summerfly413;701375]I don't think it's ever happened to me. I took a fake hundred once, but that's another story. QUOTE]

I've done that before. I'll explain that in a different thread though. Damn, remembering that just burns me up! :rant:

[ditchdj]

Yep saw it almost happen next to me at a Burger King inside a gas station. Guy came up with five $10 dollar bills and tried to get the cashier to give him change a bunch of times. It didnt work and he left. It didnt help that there were two managers in the front watching him. Then the cashier from the gas station side came over and told him that the guy tried to same thing with him.

[BowserKoopa1]

I have never had it happen to me, and I've been told its because they look for cashiers who they think might be weak or slow. Myself, I'm quick with numbers and my till is dead on almost every time.
However I have had customers come up to me and ask me to break bills. Every single time, I tell them "I'm sorry, I can't do it." Yeah they give me the look, but tough shit, I don't care. We're not a dam bank.
1 of my fellow cashiers said he caught someone in the act of trying to short change him, and he simply looked at the guy and said, "Dude, don't try it." All it took was a certain look in his eyes to tell the scammer that he was on to him, and he just shut up after that and left. :wave: Good riddens.
I also do remember a story posted on this site about how a scammer tried that on a cashier, but the cashier wound up taking money from the guy! :lol:

[Victoria J]

I've posted this before but I was in a store with my mother when the worker managed to quick change themselves.

It was a very odd shop, half specialist record shop half odd mexican stuff. Whether that or the amazing incompetence shown in this story was the cause they sadly closed after about 6 months.

We looked round and my mother decided to buy a small item. Took it up to the worker and got a price (not everything was labelled) and went to pay. She offers a £20, they didn't have change. We started trying to pool change, they checked with the manager.

Cue much swapping off money and items.

My mother (who I have literally heard add 2 + 2 and get 5) leaves and is putting money in her purse. We walk out the door and she's :confused:

"Is it right that I now have £20 and change ?"

We looked. And double checked. She'd ended up with the item, her £20, and they had appeared to have given her extra change as well. We had to go back and try again.

Other than the time we went to a shop where they didn't tell us until we wanted to buy something that they were actually opening the day after, and then had to get a staple remover to remove the bag we were buying from the shelf, it is possibly the most surreal customer experience I've had.

I'm a bit mystified by getting 300 scamming with 100 though - most scams would get some extra change but lower than the big bill amount. :confused: Did they get you more than once before you were told about the scam ?

Victoria J

[saturnz_dragon]

And not to pry or call you stupid, but how did you give 300 dollars out?!

Like I said, I was new at the job so I was nervous and flustered. Also, I'm not that amazing with math... But yeah, it was mainly because I was freaking out internally and just got very confused and lost count.

[saturnz_dragon]

I have never had it happen to me, and I've been told its because they look for cashiers who they think might be weak or slow.

Yes, that is usually what they look for. Either people that look really young or really old. I'm 21 but I could pass for 16, so obviously I was an easy target. Also, my name badge at the time said "new team member" so I was just an open invitation to scammers. From what I've noticed since then, however, we no longer give out the "new team member" badges and just give new employees normal name badges. I think it's smarter that way.

[Red_Dazes]

When I was working cash register I had a few people try to pull that with me... as I started to count out the change they kept asking for it in different ways. Luckily for me, I always count change to myself, and then count it as I hand it to them... it's an extra step but it has kept my drawer pretty much balanced for as long as I worked.

[Aut]

I have a lady that comes in to pay her storage rent every month and I don't know if she's dense, or if she's trying to scam me, but it doesn't work. She always asks if I have change for $100. She actually wants me to break the bill for her BEFORE she pays her rent. Sometimes I don't have that much cash in the drawer, but I almost always have enough for the change that would be due to her. Sometimes I break the bill for her, then she pulls some smaller bills out of the stash she still has on her and it gets messy. But it never works for her.

[ottid]

I wonder if someone was going to try this on me last weekend. I had one customer, whom I had just served ask to change a $10 for some coins for parking, which we aren't really supposed to do, but it was slow and I knew I had enough in the till. Cue lady who came in about 3min after (may have been less) to ask for change for a $50 which I promptly said I couldn't do and she walked off in a huff. What, do I look like a bank?*

*Ok, this may have been the case because we are also a post centre which means people can bring in their parcels etc to send, but we can't do anything else a post shop does, which in most cases now has a bank attached to it, but there is no way that my counter looked like it was a bank counter.

[EricKei]

I would imagine that this is part of the reason why many fast food/convenience stores refuse to accept bills in any denominations above a twenty. :rolleyes:

[StanFlouride]

The only time someone tried to scam me at a register he nearly lost a finger.
Scammer A came to the register and asked for change and while I was getting it his partner tipped over something on the counter a few feet away. When I turned to deal with that A tried to reach into the open drawer. I slammed the drawer closed and he dashed, sucking on his finger.
I was really sorry I missed.

[RxBoy]

My store has a very strict policy about dealing with these types of people. We are told that if someone gets us confused, we are to stop, close the drawer, and call over a manager. Not following that policy at our store can get us written up.

[Magpie]

When I worked at the theatre we had to watch an hour-long video about how to spot fake money... it was terrible, but informative. And yet I still accepted a fake $50 bill on a busy night! All the preparation in the world can't prevent everything.

I have to ask: was it one of the new ones? If so, ouch. If not, that's why they redesigned the bills!

I would imagine that this is part of the reason why many fast food/convenience stores refuse to accept bills in any denominations above a twenty. :rolleyes:

That and the SCs who insist that you should have change for their $100 AT ALL TIMES!!eleventy!!!

[Estil]

So far I've not had a quick changer in my over five years (knock on wood), but that may be because I take a few precautions:

1. You know how in many places change can only be made when the drawer is still open from a purchase (and many customers actually will say "while you still have your draw open" thinking that's true here)? Well, here we have to do just the opposite. I have to complete the sale and close the drawer BEFORE I reopen it to make change. And if the customer does that "while the drawer is still open" bit, I'll explain that to the customer so s/he isn't disappointed when I close the drawer for the purchase. I just do not feel comfortable trying to make change for a big bill while in the middle of a purchase in addition to doing the change for the purchase itself.

2. If a customer asks for change (say from a c-note) I'll first ask how do they want the change and WILL NOT even open the drawer without first confirming exactly how they want their change. For change for a c-note (from a purchase or otherwise) especially I double check the amount to be sure it's right so the customer doesn't try to question it later.

3. Not really anything to do with quick changing but for $50's/$100's I'll hold it up to the light to check the watermark/stripe (US bills) in addition to using the counterfeit marker, just to be safe (and frankly those markers don't always work right).

Hopefully these steps have deterred any quick change artists that would've tried it. I'm guessing quick changers typically try to target beginner checkers who they hope don't really know what they're doing.

[SourRobot]

I've always wondered what I should do if I ever had to deal with this kind of scammer. At my store we cannot make change unless this is done during a transaction where of course the customer is paying with cash. The register will tell me how much to take out (which is great because I'm pretty slow with math sometimes), and if the customer asks me what they want I'll take out the amount but count it all first so that the amount matches what the computer's telling me.

[Andara Bledin]

I've always wondered what I should do if I ever had to deal with this kind of scammer. At my store we cannot make change unless this is done during a transaction where of course the customer is paying with cash. The register will tell me how much to take out (which is great because I'm pretty slow with math sometimes), and if the customer asks me what they want I'll take out the amount but count it all first so that the amount matches what the computer's telling me.
One thing you can do is give out the change as you normally would, and then have them trade in one bill at a time, that you then change into whatever it is they wanted. Wait until you've handed them the changed amount, at which point the bill it was changed from gets put in the till. If you're only trading on single bills and don't hand over any money (or take any new money) until the trade is completed, it's much harder to become confused over what you have and have not changed.

^-.-^

[saturnz_dragon]

My store has a very strict policy about dealing with these types of people. We are told that if someone gets us confused, we are to stop, close the drawer, and call over a manager. Not following that policy at our store can get us written up.

I think that is a very good policy and all stores should follow it. In my training, however, I was NEVER told about scammers, which is quite ridiculous. I had to watch plenty of intro videos about how to bag properly, etc... The movies were all happy and peppy like working in retail is always such fun and nothing bad ever happens! Of course we all know the truth. I just wish that they would make a video for the new cashiers about scammers and some of the tricks they try to pull.

[Food Lady]

It only had to happen to me once and it was so long ago I forget the details. But I'm so fast at counting back now that scammers don't even have a chance. It's part of my whole "This is my register. I am in control here, not the customers" attitude.

[AnaKhouri]

I got scammed. Once. Now when someone tries that or asks for change for large bills I tell them I can't do that and there's a bank across the shopping center.

[Summerfly413]

I'm glad that we have a rule at my store that only the service desk can give change(outside of a normal transaction, of course). So to the people who say "While your drawer is open.." (sometimes these people just walk up on my side or behind me, who weren't even part of the transaction to begin with) I just tell them "Oh I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to make change. They can get you change up at the service desk."

And we aren't supposed to open our drawer back up for a customer once we close it and give them their change.

I think these precautions help with quick changing at my store

[Record Store Tough Guy]

In my entire time at the record store, I was never scammed by a Quick Change Artist. I may have had some attempt to scam me, but because of the way I handled transactions, I shut them down before they could really even start. One thing to keep in mind is that you're in control of the transaction, not the customer. If they try to take control by asking for or switching denominations or amounts as you're counting (a common tactic), ask them to hold on for just a second so you don't lose track of what you're counting. If they keep doing so, stop counting until they keep quiet. A flat stare tends to work best in this situation, as it generally lets them know you're on to them. If at any point they succeed in throwing you off count, do NOT try and figure things out on your own. Put everything back in the drawer and call a manager. If they get agitated at this point, it's pretty likely they're a scammer. Simply refusing to accede to any special change requests can nip this problem before it starts.

Never try to keep up with them. Never try to "out scam" them; they're pros, you will likely lose.

If they get belligerent, insist that you want to make sure they aren't shortchanged; if you act like you're doing them a favor, it takes the wind out of their sails, and they can't continue to use intimidation as a tactic.

Announcing the denomination of and putting the bill they pay with on top of the till until the transaction is complete is excellent advice. If you have a counterfeit pen you can even mark it with the time you took it. Anything that verifies what they paid with will keep them from scamming you.

If they're not purchasing anything, don't make change, period. As has been said, let a manager or customer service deal with it. Sometimes they may only want your drawer open so they can grab a handful of bills. This is less common, however, and can easily be foiled by refusing to let an open drawer out of your sight even for a second. Dude wants to see that box set behind you? He'll have to wait til you're done ringing up his accomplice.

Like I said above, as long as you stay in control of the transaction, and shut down any attempt to wrest that control away from you, you'll stand a good chance of shutting down these kinds of scammers before they even start.

[SourRobot]

Great advice, Record Store Tough Guy and Andara Bledin!

[Jay 2K Winger]

To the best of my knowledge, I've never been nailed on quick-change scams. Granted, this might be because I'm not some short or waifish type of person that a scammer feels like they can bully or easily confused.

Being six-foot-two, fairly broad in the shoulders, and my general aura of "suffer no bulls**t" probably defuses a lot of scammers or potential Suck.

[saturnz_dragon]

It's actually pretty funny that I created this thread a few days or so ago, and just yesterday I had a guy come up to me and try this scam on me yet again! I shut this dude down before he even started. He looked suspicious because he was hanging around the checklanes half-heartedly looking at things and finally decided when the coast was clear to buy some women's hair ties (!) in my line. His total was like $3 or so, and I saw he had smaller bills, but of course he gave me a $100 bill.

Well, as soon as I opened my drawer, put the 100 in, and started giving him back his $97 in change, he said, "Wait, I meant to give you a 20! Can I have that 100 back?"

I stopped what I was doing, stared him down a little, and said, "Why don't I just give you back your change?"

So I gave him his change for the hair ties (which I'm sure this very short haired guy was planning on using), and I said, "You can go to customer service if you want a $100 bill."

He said okay and started to walk over there... I knew he wasn't going to try it with the guy working at the service desk (who also happens to be my boyfriend) because he just does not look like someone you wanna mess with.

As soon as the scammer walked away from me I ran up to my manager and warned her about him so that they could review the tapes, look at the type of car he was driving, and warn the stores in our surrounding shopping centers about him and how he might try to pull a fast one on them.

I felt really good about myself after all of this because I knew I did a good job and that butthole didn't get a damn thing from me! :p

[Plaidman]

saturnz_dragon, I've had plently of people do that to me. Sometimes they really did mean to give smaller bill. Just saying. I wasn't there, so I gotta take your word that he was trying to scam you. But that's when you say ok, ask for the twenty, give him his hundred back, then 17 more dollars. No fuss.

[saturnz_dragon]

saturnz_dragon, I've had plently of people do that to me. Sometimes they really did mean to give smaller bill. Just saying. I wasn't there, so I gotta take your word that he was trying to scam you. But that's when you say ok, ask for the twenty, give him his hundred back, then 17 more dollars. No fuss.

Yes, I've had people do that before, but something about him was very fishy. When people do that accidentally, I can tell it by the tone of their voice and the way they say it. He was more demanding about it and sort of reached towards my drawer, which immediately set off alarms in my head. Just by the way he was acting I could tell he was trying to scam me.

[JustaCashier]

I think I mentioned this on another thread quite awhile ago.

One day at the hardware store, a guy pays for his purchase, and gives me what I swore was a $100.00 bill.

I put the bill under my till tray, (my preference, and practice in all other cash handling jobs was to put the bill on top of the till as cashiers typically do, however there I was trained to put it in the till right away. Did so reluctantly at first, until I saw how often the wind would blow in through the front doors when they opened, and blow the bill away. [ /digress]) and give the guy his $80.00+ in change.

The guy says, "Aw man, I can't do this to you, I only gave you a twenty". I chuckled, thinking he was trying to be funny, doing a reversal of "I gave you a $100.00" when they only gave twenty.

I look under the drawer, and sure enough there was a twenty there, (we kept them in one of the slots in the tray) plus, whatever 50's and/or 100's I already had.

I just about crapped my pants! I kept playing the transaction back in my mind, even later in the day, and still swore I remember it being a 100.

The only thing that bothered me besides the screw up itself, was that I was so stunned by the whole thing, I don't remember if I thanked the guy sufficiently, or just stood there dumbstruck as he handed me the $80.00 back.

Mike

[Ironclad Alibi]

The guy says, "Aw man, I can't do this to you, I only gave you a twenty". I chuckled, thinking he was trying to be funny, doing a reversal of "I gave you a $100.00" when they only gave twenty.

Something like that happened to me once. I had a refund check for something like $4.50. I gave it to a bank teller to cash it. She pulled out a wrapped bundle of $20 bills and counted them out. I was wondering why she was doing that instead of giving me the $4.50. After she finished counting the stack of twenties, she added a few more bills and handed then to me. Not understanding what happened, I asked her how much that check was for. Then she saw her error. She had mistaken a serial number on the check for the amount of the check.

[LadyAndreca]

To the best of my knowledge, I've never been quick-changed (though I did miss a fake $50 mixed in a stack of real bills once). Orange Apron did some basic training on some of the most common scams, like quick changing and hiding items inside others, during the cashier training, but nothing so inventive as SCs actually are.

These are the steps I use when counting back change:
1. Say "out of $xx?" when taking payment.
2. Count the change to myself as I pull it out of the drawer, and again to the customer when I'm giving it to them. I don't mind denomination requests because I'm still verifying how much I have in my hand before I give it to the customer.
3. If I do get confused, I say "I'm sorry, I lost count, let me start over", put EVERYTHING back and start counting the change again.
4. If the customer wants additional change, tell them I have to do one transaction at a time and don't change the new bill until I've completed the sale.