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Antiwork

BEWARE of phone scams/register quick-change scams at retail stores

There is a trend of some stores being scammed out of thousands by people on the phone targeting store employees and pretending to be from corporate, they will ask manager(s) or other associates on duty to empty the safe and/or registers and deposit that money into Bitcoin machines or wire that money. Similarly some scammers will target new or naïve cashiers into giving them back most of the money they gave to the cashier and walk away with the merchandise. Here's how the scam works: Let's say the scammer gives the cashier $100 to pay for merchandise. While the cashier is counting the change, the con distracts the cashier by chatting about a random subject. Then, after the con receives the change for the $100, con changes his mind and asks to pay for the item with a smaller bill. He hands the cashier a $5 bill and asks for…


There is a trend of some stores being scammed out of thousands by people on the phone targeting store employees and pretending to be from corporate, they will ask manager(s) or other associates on duty to empty the safe and/or registers and deposit that money into Bitcoin machines or wire that money.

Similarly some scammers will target new or naïve cashiers into giving them back most of the money they gave to the cashier and walk away with the merchandise. Here's how the scam works: Let's say the scammer gives the cashier $100 to pay for merchandise. While the cashier is counting the change, the con distracts the cashier by chatting about a random subject. Then, after the con receives the change for the $100, con changes his mind and asks to pay for the item with a smaller bill. He hands the cashier a $5 bill and asks for the $100 bill back. Con then walks away with the merchandise, the change, AND the original $100.

Unrelated to scams but if any employee sees shoplifting going on, don't try to be a hero, don't tackle the perps, don't insult them, just follow your company's policy for these situations and if they walk out with the merchandise, so be it. Most retail companies will not protect their employees if they get sued for calling shoplifters racial slurs or injuring them, so don't do this!

If you do end up wiring store funds or depositing into Bitcoin machines or something similar, or end up getting quick-changed as a cashier these companies will not stand up for you, you will most likely be fired and possibly be held responsible financially or even criminally, so please be advised.

Why am I telling you this? because I know people in retail and HR and they see reports all the time of employees getting phone scammed, quick-changed, or trying to recover merchandise from shoplifters forcibly and the companies will usually just fire that employee and sometimes hold them accountable if the shoplifter ends up going after the company. Don't be a hero for your company because they will not try to be a hero for you.

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