Ok. Feel free to beat me over the head with what an idiot I am but I fell for the Change Raise con.
http://www.fraudtech.bizland.com/short_change.htm I can't believe I did since I'm pretty dilligent in making sure change is counted out, people aren't walking away and then claiming they gave me more, etc. I am absolutely floored that I fell for it.
Of course I have my husband and my son as well as the kid who used to work for us all telling me they wouldn't have fallen for it but the two Sheriff's I spoke to couldn't follow what happened either. One, in fact, still did not see it even before he left.
And it happened just like the link shows the con to work only I was taken for $50. The guy was pushy, controling, in your face, throwing the bills at me and onto the till, leaning over the counter to look in the till... and this all happened in a very short amount of time. I knew he was going to try something with the "buy my bill back" but I honestly thought I followed him. Even after the fact I didn't think he got me and it wasn't until the uneasy feeling prompted me to call my mother-in-law, who's been doing this a lot longer than I, to talk through the transaction that I saw the con. After going over it unendingly I now wonder how I didn't see it.
So I called and reported him. Felt like an idiot the whole time but he was so good, I guarantee you this guy's been conning old ladies out of their husbands pension checks as well as businesses. Then I watched a replay of the DVR and saw the direction he went. I called the next logical place for him to stop to warn them and they just happened to be there. The clerk I spoke to was able to get me their license plate number and told me he was doing the exact same thing to the other clerk.
I called the Sheriff back, gave them the plate number and told them where the guys were. (two men came in, one pulled the con) They sent a Sheriff there and managed to get a copy of their surveilance video before leaving. Mine was partially obstructed inside but I did manage to get enough to prove they were there.
Then I started making more calls. Turns out he got the store down the road, me and the store up the road all within an hour and he may have hit a store further west a week ago. They're reviewing their tapes this week to see if it's them. (poor kid who was hit there has felt pretty bad about it for over a week)
I saw (and got for the Sheriff) the video of the store just down the road and it looks to me like he got them for a lot. She doesn't speak very good english and would definitely been a good target for this guy. According to the first Sheriff, an acquaintance of ours actually, he was more forceful at the store I called when the clerk tried to stop his constantly changing transactions and may have pulled money out of their till before leaving. Kind of scary when they had two employees there and more customers and I was by myself. He said it was probably best I fell for it. Heh, worth the lesson I guess.
The car was rented in a city 3 hours away so I don't know yet if he used his own identity or someone elses. I still can't believe I didn't see it but like I said, the Sheriff's also had a hard time understanding it.
I'll update if he's caught, but in the mean time I'm tempted to print out his image from the videos I have from the other store and circulate them around the area.
http://www.fraudtech.bizland.com/short_change.htm I can't believe I did since I'm pretty dilligent in making sure change is counted out, people aren't walking away and then claiming they gave me more, etc. I am absolutely floored that I fell for it.
Of course I have my husband and my son as well as the kid who used to work for us all telling me they wouldn't have fallen for it but the two Sheriff's I spoke to couldn't follow what happened either. One, in fact, still did not see it even before he left.
And it happened just like the link shows the con to work only I was taken for $50. The guy was pushy, controling, in your face, throwing the bills at me and onto the till, leaning over the counter to look in the till... and this all happened in a very short amount of time. I knew he was going to try something with the "buy my bill back" but I honestly thought I followed him. Even after the fact I didn't think he got me and it wasn't until the uneasy feeling prompted me to call my mother-in-law, who's been doing this a lot longer than I, to talk through the transaction that I saw the con. After going over it unendingly I now wonder how I didn't see it.
So I called and reported him. Felt like an idiot the whole time but he was so good, I guarantee you this guy's been conning old ladies out of their husbands pension checks as well as businesses. Then I watched a replay of the DVR and saw the direction he went. I called the next logical place for him to stop to warn them and they just happened to be there. The clerk I spoke to was able to get me their license plate number and told me he was doing the exact same thing to the other clerk.
I called the Sheriff back, gave them the plate number and told them where the guys were. (two men came in, one pulled the con) They sent a Sheriff there and managed to get a copy of their surveilance video before leaving. Mine was partially obstructed inside but I did manage to get enough to prove they were there.
Then I started making more calls. Turns out he got the store down the road, me and the store up the road all within an hour and he may have hit a store further west a week ago. They're reviewing their tapes this week to see if it's them. (poor kid who was hit there has felt pretty bad about it for over a week)
I saw (and got for the Sheriff) the video of the store just down the road and it looks to me like he got them for a lot. She doesn't speak very good english and would definitely been a good target for this guy. According to the first Sheriff, an acquaintance of ours actually, he was more forceful at the store I called when the clerk tried to stop his constantly changing transactions and may have pulled money out of their till before leaving. Kind of scary when they had two employees there and more customers and I was by myself. He said it was probably best I fell for it. Heh, worth the lesson I guess.
The car was rented in a city 3 hours away so I don't know yet if he used his own identity or someone elses. I still can't believe I didn't see it but like I said, the Sheriff's also had a hard time understanding it.
I'll update if he's caught, but in the mean time I'm tempted to print out his image from the videos I have from the other store and circulate them around the area.
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