Two people work together. In the “Paper Moon” case, Tatum and her father were a team. First, they took a $20 bill, and wrote a note on the back of it. Something like “To my dear Addie from your aunt Helen. Happy Birthday”. Ryan O’Neal then went into the store and paid for a small item with the 20, keeping the bill face up and watching as the girl put it into the cash register. A few minutes later, Addie comes in and pays for a .25 item with a dollar bill. The lady gives her the correct change, but Addie says that she paid with a 20 that her aunt Helen gave her and then she starts to cry. The store manager comes out and they look in the cash register and of course, find the 20.The manager makes the girl feel bad and tells her to give the child back her money.
So, they spent a total of .50 and they made $19.50. A lot of dough in those days.
Much simpler one, but it only works if you’re in a bar spending money anyway, and if you see it as an opportunistic thing that might pay for your night out (ie. the professionals probably don’t do this:
When the crowd is five deep at the bar on a busy night, and the bar staff are run off their feet, you ostentatiously try to attract their attention for service by waving a hundred. You pay with a ten. Sometimes, the hundred will stick in the bartender’s mind, and you’ll get lucky.
Actually, Addie gives her a $5 bill, but that’s not the fast change scam. At two other times in the movie, Ryan O’Neal’s character makes a purchase and pulls a scam like BobT and ggurl describe above: ostensibly making change, but getting back more than he gave.
TheLoadedDog: What you described is essentially what Cusack’s character in The Grifters tries. It works with US currency. Are the Aussie $10 and $100 the same color? Is that why it works better?