HPD looking for con man
Brent Finnegan -- October 22nd, 2009
The HPD is looking for a man swindling money from Harrisonburg stores using one of the oldest ploys in the book: the short change scam.
On three separate occasions, this unknown male has gone into a store and purchased a drink. When paying for the drink, he gives a $100 bill to the cashier. As the cashier begins to make change, the suspect says he will pay the correct amount of change and asks for the $100 bill back. While he is fumbling through his money he asks the cashier to go ahead and give him change from the $100 bill.
The cashier gives approximately $99 in change and the offender never gives the cashier the $100 bill.
The offender makes the transaction quick and leaves the store before the cashier realizes he also left with the $100 bill.
It works something like this:
The con artist has hit the Harrisonburg Target three times, and Walmart once. HPD is looking for any information regarding his whereabouts. They included a security cam photo with the press release.
From the snarlyboodle post I linked to at the top:
A smart scam artist will forget the $50 or $100 levels of this scam. Most stores won’t accept anything larger than a $20 bill, anyway, and greedy people get caught more often.
Tags: con artist, con man, scam, short change, shortchange
Bob McDonnell walks up the citizens of Virginia and offers them a moderate image and a pink pony stuffed with tax-free transportation funding money. Virginia is interested and elects Bob McDonnell.
Then the Wall Street guys that really own the pink pony stuffed with money come to Virginia and threaten to beat Virginia senseless unless Virginia pays for the pink pony. Bob McDonnell makes a deal – all Virginians will chip and pay the Wall Street guys for the pink pony.
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Virginia pays Bob’s tab.
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The end.