Originally Posted By: eljefino
I was confused by this exchange, but if I were a part of it, I would have had better track of who wanted what, and slowed the actors down until everyone was clear. I think they want people who wouldn't get sucked into the multi-tasking, money-changing scam: (Source: Wikipedia)
Quote:
Change raising, also known as a quick-change artist,[51] is a common short con and involves an offer to change an amount of money with someone, while at the same time taking change or bills back and forth to confuse the person as to how much money is actually being changed. The most common form, "the Short Count", has been featured prominently in several movies about grifting, notably The Grifters, Criminal, Nine Queens, and Paper Moon. For example, a con artist shopping at a gas station pays for a cheap item (under a dollar) and gives the clerk a ten dollar bill. The con gets back nine ones and the change and then tells the clerk he has a one and will exchange ten ones for a ten. This is what the scam artist is doing: getting the clerk to hand over the $10 before handing over the $1 bills. Then the scam artist hands over nine ones and the $10. The clerk will assume there has been a mistake and offer to swap the ten for a one. Then the con will probably just say: "Here's another one, give me a $20 and we're even." Notice that the scam artist just swapped $10 for $20. The $10 was the store's money, not the con's. To avoid this con, clerks should keep each transaction separate and never permit the customer to handle the original ten before handing over the ten ones. Another variation is to flash a $20 bill to the clerk, then ask for something behind the counter. When the clerk turns away, the con artist can swap the bill he is holding to a lesser bill. The clerk might then make change for the larger bill, without noticing it has been swapped. The technique may work better when bills are the same color at a glance like, for instance, U.S. dollar bills.
A similar technique exists when a con comes to a gas station with a young clerk, buying something cheap, showing him an uncommonly huge bill while not giving it and telling the clerk to prepare the change. While he's busy counting the change, the con would ask many questions in order to distract the young clerk. When change is counted and ready the con is acting as if he had given the huge bill. If the clerk does not remember having received the bill, the con will say he gave him the money. If the clerk is weak or distracted enough, he could let the con go away with the change.[citation needed]
I don't see how people fall for that. Back when I worked retail,once the customer's currency touched my hand,it belonged to the store. No currency was ever given back unless the customer wished to no longer make the purchase.
