Tried to Scam Me

[radiocerk]

Scam artists....

When I worked in theme parks, we had a scam artist seminar, where they explained the most common ones. I didn't actually have anyone pull any of them until I worked in restaurants.

Once I had a guy reach over my register and try to take his money back from on top of my drawer. I almost took his fingers off, I closed that drawer so fast. My manager backed me on it, and gave the guy a stern talking to, about reaching into a cash register.

The other time, I almost got taken. He had the opposite attitude than typical. Seemed really laid back, came in at a slow time when I was the only one up front and trying to do my sidework. Lucky for me, they had just changed out my drawer, and I didn't have enough money to account for what I thought I should. That was when the little light came on. I complimented him on his technique and told him I'd call the cops if I saw him again. Then my manager called the nearby stores to warn them.

Mostly it's a matter of staying methodical and professional.

And not being afraid to call them on their BS.

[MadMike]

I don't know why some owners don't feel it neccesary to educate cash-handlers about common scams.

They never told me either. Luckily, I don't think I ever got taken by one of those scammers. At least I don't remember anyone asking for change and them changing their minds about the denomination. And as far as I know, my drawer was never short.

[Andara Bledin]

I never got any sort of training or warning about scammers when I was doing cashiering. Of course, I was working the ticket booth of Medieval Times, but still, I was handling an awful lot of cash.

I can't say if anyone ever actually tried to scam me, however. I was far too oblivious and dense (and far too good at math on the fly) to have noticed. If anyone did try, they would have been very frustrated at my ability to handle large volumes of semi-related numbers. And my drawer was always less than $1.00 off.

^-.-^

[queenbb]

i did get hit by one that i foiled the other day.

this guy comes in and wants some loose tires, i go to the back and pull them with the help of some of the techs since i dont climb.

when i get to the front with the tires the guy is writeing out the info on the check, (ie the cadl info experation date and the amount i tell him how nice he is to have done that. he said that he thought he would take care of it while he was waiting it would give him something to do.

so i start to ring him up and ask for his id. he shows me he looks like the pic on the id and i scanned the drivers licence info to see if it was the same, it was

when we do checks we have to enter the drivers licence # in the puter at the time of transaction, i type the info from the check, and when i hit enter it gives me a voice authorization code error.

i ask for the guy to give me his licence back cause there was a problem i wanted to make sure that the # i entered was the same i might have transposed some of the #'s

he flashes his id again, i notice this time that it didnt look right, on ca drivers licences there is a light holographic type thing that reflects the state seal when in the light, well it wasnt reflecting it was just orange, and if you have ever color copied your licence you will know that the seal will turn an orange color when copied.

i ask him to take the licence out of his wallet cause it didnt look right i wanted to get a better look at it, (and to put it under our fraud detection light, when you stick a licence under the state of ca will have a luminecent state flag)

he flat out refused, he said he didnt take his licence out for anyone. and that he would get cash. i said that would be fine he walks out with out the tires (but with 4 chrome valve stems that he was also going to buy)

i look at my boss and i say, i think that guy tried to scam me.

they ask what happend the the car, i said he was buying the tires loose so no car was involved. they were happy that we didnt actually work on the vehicle, (not that i would have given him the keys anyway, i would have had some one drive it in to the shop till he came back in with the cash.)

[Bagga]

If the customer changed his mind about what denominations he wanted in change, I would always explain that I didn't want to underchange him, and put everything I had counted out so far back into the appropriate places in the till, then start again.

Considering that I am giving a non-profitable, optional service, if he complains that I am taking too long, well, it's his fault for not deciding in advance EXACTLY what he wanted, isn't it?

[Boochan]

Never had to experience this little scam, well from a smart thief anyway. We've had a couple of people try, and well they were just too slow, or too dumb (handing me a $20 and saying its a $50, and wanting change for it). I mean we aren't deaf or blind

Never had to experience any Fake ID either, not that I pay too much attention to it since its not too important unless for checks (a rarity). I've seen IDs expired by more then 10yrs, however. Hologram seems to work well enough over here, as it has for quite some time now.

[TryNotToBeThatOne]

Yeah, one way to tell the confused/idiot who changes their mind vs the scammer? The idiot apologizes for changing their mind & waits patiently as you make the desired change. Um, not that I've every done this. Nooo.

[AriRashkae]

It happened to my boss when I worked at my old toy store. He managed to fluster her up. But after he left, she realized what had happened and counted the till to see how badly she messed up. The till was $20 over

We need little "buttons" under the post that say things like "Interesting" and "Love" (Fellow Ravelers will know what I'm talking about).

In this case: Love (20)

[computeraide]

Laughable Forgery

I don't work in retail now, but I did about a 5 year stint working as a cashier at a locally owned/operated grocery store. After a while I was promoted to the service desk where my duties included check cashing.

My most memorable attempt at scammery came around the first of the month when we were always slammed by folks cashing payroll and government checks. An elderly woman came in and presented me with a "check" for over $500 as most of them tended to be.

It didn't take a rocket surgeon to realize that the check was a PHOTOCOPY of an actual check.

It was black and white.
It was poorly cut out with jaggedy edges.
It was barely rectangular.
It had ink spots and blotches from an old Xerox machine.
Obviously zero security features to be had.

I had to call the owner over to deal with the lady, who refused to believe that her check could not be cashed. She tried to claim that it had been "sent to her like that", that it was perfectly valid, and we had no right to deny her the funds, and that since it was a government check it should be considered "legal tender".

[weirdboy_1]

There's also a common scam (at least in our parts) that involves quick money changing.

Usually 2 people come in and go to 2 different registers (this works very well at fast food joints, as their registers are so close). One person (Decoy) goes up and begins to make a fuss, thus drawing a lot of attention to themselves. While decoy is making a fuss the other scammer (Moneychanger) at the next register orders something small, like a cone, hamburger, etc. Moneychanger then pays with a large bill, usually a fifty. While decoy is making a fuss, moneychanger is getting his change. Then, while using some of the change that he just got he says "Oh, here, I have a smaller denomination" and gives them a 5 dollar bill.

While the cashier is all flustered she usually goes "Oh, okay" and gives them back the 50 and the change for the 5, without realizing that they still have the rest of the change from the original 50. Then, he gets his small meal and walks out, usually almost 50 bucks richer.

On another note, we had the owner catch someone do it in the drivethrough, but when he went to press charges the cashier's mom (the cashier was like 16) would not let her testify, so they got off scott-free.

[IHateStupidCustomers]

i heard of a scam a while back where people would ask for change and then change their mind about how what denomination they wanted a few times.

the goal to confuse you in to giving them more money.

i havent heard of it in a while nor have i had anyone try to attempt it on me, but when ever some one asks me for change its always in the back of my mind.

I saw something on the news or some other TV show about that. They taped someone doing this to several cashiers and it worked damn near every time. They of course gave the money back, and I bet those cashiers learned not to even deal with those people anymore!

I don't give change at all. Not allowed, don't make exceptions. Someone can't scam you while giving them change if you don't give them change!