Part of my job as a sergeant is to review reports submitted by the patrol officers. Most of them are fairly routine, even somewhat boring at times. Fights, drunk drivers, property damage, thefts, fraud and the other usual things you might expect. Some are more serious like sexual assaults, child abuse and domestic violence with serious assaults. These type of reports can be difficult to read and you feel for the victims. Today however I read a fraud report and it again amazed me at how gullible and just dumb some people can be at times. The scam goes like this:
An employee at a restaurant receives a phone call from a guy who identifies himself as a deputy sheriff. He tell the employee that he needed the managers cell phone number because another employee of the restaurant has been arrested for drunk driving and needed to be bailed out of jail. He tell the employee that due to confidentiality laws he can’t tell them the name of the employee was but that she would be the last person they would expect to be arrested. Of course the employee mentions a name and the bad guy says “well yes that’s her”.
Now he has the name of an employee who is not working and is given the managers cell phone number. Immediately he calls the manager and having the employee’s name he tells the manager that the employee needs $680 dollars for bail to get out of jail. He tells the manager not to hang up because it is the only phone call his employee gets and she really needs his help. He instructs him to go to a major store which he actually names, and wire the money to a location which he says is a bail bondsman, of course giving the manager a fake name for the bondsman. He further tell the manager to send the money with “no identification required”. Could this be a big 
perhaps? I just don’t get it.
At this point it seems a reasonable person would have at least started asking some questions… (I probably would have laughed at the guy and hung up... but that's just me...) Perhaps getting a call back number, where she was in jail or something like that. Then make some phone calls to verify the story. Also I would be wondering why she was calling an employer for bail and not friends or family or just bailing themselves out. Anyway the manager wires the money and then his brain kicks in and he is starting to think something is not right. Of course by this time the money is gone and there is no trail.
This scam has been successfully pulled of at several businesses in the area, mostly restaurants. Like I said, I just don’t get it…..
Wow… Talk about fail! I hear the “cash back” scam is starting to get out of control too… People go into stores and buy merchandise and check out. When they pay with a debit/credit card at the register, the cashier asks if the patron wants any cash back. The customer typically replies no and then the cashier is SUPPOSED to hit ‘no cash back’ on the computer, but apparently some employees have been selecting ‘yes’. The patron believes that no cash back has been taken from their credit account and they go on their way, while the cashier/partner-in-crime (typically the next “customer” behind the victim) walks off with the cash… Usually small amounts… $20 – $40 dollars. LOOK AT YOUR RECIEPTS BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE STORE!!! :~)
Tell the manager that when he signed his contract, he agreed to follow the company’s rules and policies. Explain that you expect managers and supervisors to hold themselves to a higher level of professionalism than employees.