Current scam at the truck stop

[Kaylyn]

The truck stop I fuel at regularly has about 5 security camera pictures of scam artists behind the counter. I asked my buddy who works there why the employees aren't trained better on scams. I assumed it was the general fast-talking quick change thing, but he let me in on the current scam.

Someone comes in and pays with a largish bill. It will have something like "Happy Birthday John" written on it. Later on the accomplice comes in and makes a fuss over paying with the wrong bill ($100 instead of $10) and his "proof" is the writing on the bill. This is always done during a busy time when they don't have time to drop big bills in the safe, and the way their drawer is set up, it's impossible for them to count the drawer for some reason. So this scam usually succeeds, especially in the light of their very high turnover and a poorly educated staff.

Anyone been hit with something similar?

[wagegoth]

That's an old one. It's even in the movie Paper Moon.

[ArcticChicken]

And Matchstick Men

[Red_Dazes]

...This is when asking for the receipt comes in very handy..... and if they DO happen to have the receipt... Ask them for the change you gave them back....

[persephone]

...This is when asking for the receipt comes in very handy..... and if they DO happen to have the receipt... Ask them for the change you gave them back....

If I read it right, I THINK what she's saying is that later someone different will come in, pay with a ten and then SAY they paid with a hundred dollar bill, claiming that the writing on the big bill is proof that it's the one they just paid with. Do I have it right?

[Calud]

If I read it right, I THINK what she's saying is that later someone different will come in, pay with a ten and then SAY they paid with a hundred dollar bill, claiming that the writing on the big bill is proof that it's the one they just paid with. Do I have it right?

Ah, now it makes sense.

[Kaylyn]

If I read it right, I THINK what she's saying is that later someone different will come in, pay with a ten and then SAY they paid with a hundred dollar bill, claiming that the writing on the big bill is proof that it's the one they just paid with. Do I have it right?

Yeah, I think that's what happens. I kinda got into an argument with my friend over ways to foil the scam artist; he kept arguing that "No, that won't work, no, we can't always do that." Seems to me when you get scammed as much as this store does, you MAKE time to cover your tracks, no matter how busy. It always happens at their peak hours, so the cashier likely can't keep track. Of course, when I worked retail, I'd always keep their bill in sight so this wouldn't happen.

I don't remember the scam being in Matchstick Men. I didn't realize it was an old one, either; my friend says it's the newest craze right now at the store, so it's probably going through a phase.

Personally, if it were me, once aware of the scam, I'd make a point to make a fuss over the writing and getting the name of the person who's paying me, and then immediately drop the money in the safe (like it's SUPPOSED to be done at this t/s, but most of the people there just don't care enough to do the job right).

[It's me]

This is why it's always a good idea to keep the tendered bill in sight while making change, and couting the change back to the customer out loud, adding up from the the purchase amount to the tenered amount. Then the tendered bill gets put away.

But with the advent of electronic cash registers... no one does that anymore.

I haven't done retail for many years now, but when I did it was in a place that had huge rushes of people (in was located in a bus/subway station). And I was NEVER short.

[Fox One]

Damn, that's clever. That way, the overworked cashier will have no memory of the person being involved in any large transaction, but since they can identify the bill in question...when in doubt...ugh...

[llythe]

After a year of working the drive-thru till in the fast food industry, where you often had multiple transactions put through the till so you had to rely on math (gasp!) to figure out the change, I learned very quick the fast way of counting up change without having to use the till. Consequently, I never type in the amount a customer pays, and "Cash" into the till to get the change printed on the receipt... after reading this, I realize that might screw me in the future.


I had one customer come back when I worked fast food and claim I never gave her the change. Being a naive 16 yr old, and my manager not around at the time, I said "Oh, I'm sorry!" and gave her the change from my till. Sure enough, she was mistaken, and my till was out $11 that night. My manager flipped and said "If that ever happens again, take their name and phone number, and the amount that they claim... if we're out that amount at the end of the night, it was our error, and we'll call them back. If not... it was a scam!"

That might help in this situation? Maybe? It sounds pretty tricky.