I don’t know what this scam is officially called. But it has happened to me twice.
It works like this: let’s say the price for something is $3.90, and I hand the cashier a $20 bill. He puts the bill in the cash register drawer and hands me back $6.10 in change (one $5 bill, one $1 bill, and one dime).
He is hoping I won’t notice the discrepancy. If I do notice it, he will claim I gave him a $10 bill and not a $20 bill.
Both times when this happened to me, I got pretty pissed off at the cashier, and *insisted *I gave them a $20 bill. They each quickly relented and handed me an additional $10.
So now, when something costs less than $10 and I pay with a $20 bill, I will say (loudly and clearly) “Here is a twenty” when handing the $20 bill to the cashier.
Well, it’s call short-changing. Although you may be attributing to maliciousness what could be explained by incompetence.
In my days of register handling, we were taught to put the bill in question on top of the register drawer until the change was made, because it was more likely that the scam would go in the other direction – the customer would pay with a $10.00 and then, after change was made, claim that they had given a $20.00.
Of course, modern registers do not rely on human frailties to compute change – the cashier generally types in the amount the customer has given and the change is calculated, so all you have to do is make sure that the amount is entered correctly.
My experience with cash registers is this- a $10 shortage is less big of a deal than a customer who thinks you stole $10 from him.
So ‘giving back’ the money is not a sign of guilt. Verbally naming your bill is a good idea though.
The movie The Grifters has an excellent portrayal of this scam worked from the customer side. John Cusack flashes a $20, then does a tricky palming move as he passes the ($10) bill over.
From the other side of the register, you sometimes hear the clerk say “Out of twenty” or similar.
This is to prevent the customer from claiming they gave a $50 note or whatever.
Another scam:
An accomplice pays for the cup of coffee with a marked (Happy Birthday, Perp!) $100 bill.
The perp later enters the shop and pays for a cup with a $20 but then insists they gave the hundred. Perp can then refer to the bill marking as ‘proof’.
Used in the movie Paper Moon, with Jodie Foster, from the book Addie Pray, by Joe David Brown. Works especially well if the 2nd customer is a crying little girl. “My granny gave me that money for my birthday!” {sob, sob}
ISTM that saying “out of $20” or “here’s a $20” isn’t going to do any good since you could still hand the cashier (accidentally or on purpose) a $10 and if you did hand them a bill that’s different from what you said it’s going to be a royal mess.
I remember back when I was in grade school a friends mom dropped us off at a mini golf place. On the way there I was showing off my new found skill of tearing the strip out of a $20. So, we go, we pay and right away I notice that I was short changed (she gave me change back for a $10), but I was too young to say anything. When the friends mom picked us up, I told her about it and she marched over to the cashier and explained to her that I gave her a $20 but only got change for a $10. The cashier, somehow magically remembering my transaction from two hours earlier said “No, he gave me a $10” and my friends mom said “No, he gave you a twenty and if you check, there’s a notched ripped out of the top”. She handed me a ten dollar bill back without asking any more questions and I’ll bet if you watched, she probably took a ten dollar bill out of her pocket and put if back in the register.
My reason for saying it, as a customer, is for one additional confirmation for all parties. If what I say doesn’t match what the cashier gets, we need to reconcile the discrepancy immediately. Conversely, if I get the wrong change, I can point out that not only did I give a certain bill, but I also spoke its name. If the cashier had planned a scam, it makes me look a lot less like a sucker since I was well aware of the amount and I vocalized it.
You may not agree with my assessment, but I don’t see a downside to saying, “Out of a twenty…”.
The whole scam relies on one party not noticing what happened and calling out loud should really cut down on ‘accidents.’ If you give a 20 and the clerk says ‘out of 10,’ you’re likely to notice. But you’re right that the clerk could simply give the change based on a 10 and hope it isn’t noticed.
Occasionally, if I notice that the cashier is in training and I pay with a 10, I’ll say ‘Wait, didn’t I give you a 20?’ and give them a few seconds of wide-eyed terror before smiling, winking and wagging my finger. Not usually but sometimes, especially if we’d first had a bit of conversation and there’s a supervisor in earshot.
Re: Movie references:
I learned my scams at the lemonade stan’.
The ink is, but the paper is different. $10s have an orange tint around the outside and red “We the People” across the front. $20s have a blue eagle silhouette and blue “Twenty USA” on the front.
If you’re working a busy cash register, the various transactions can blur together. If you are not careful you can fall for the customer scam or do the short change scam by accident.
This happened to me twice on successive weekends at the downtown movie theater. I paid for a $7.50 ticket with a $20 bill, and got $2.50 back in change. Each time I pointed out the error and the cashier without hesitation handed me an additional $10. Definitely scamming. I sent the theater an e-mail about it and never heard back.
