Counterfeit money returned to thieves
Several thieves had their plan backfire when the counterfeit bills they used to purchase $400 in electronics from a Cincinnati area Wal-Mart were returned to them.
Honestly, this one was a toss-up between criminal and corporate stupidity. It was a bonehead move from both sides of the plate, so it got put in both categories.
A man walked into a Cincinnati area Wal-Mart and purchased a DVD player, several DVDs, and other electronics totalling around $400. After then man left, an employee noticed the bills were fake using a counterfeit marking pen. But, the thief had already left the store.
Several hours later a woman returned with most of the merchandise and receipt to try and return the products. Wal-Mart management realized what was happening and decided to give her cash back, using the counterfeit bills.
Here’s the real beauty of this story: less than an hour later the thieves returned to complain that they had been given counterfeit bills. Wal-Mart management suggested that they take it up with the police, and the crooks left.
But, this gets put here because of the stupidity on both sides of the register. If the thieves had just taken the stuff to Bob’s Pawn Shop and hocked it like any other crooks, it wouldn’t have made a good story. Sure, the cashier should have caught it before the guy left. That’s why they have counterfeit marking pens. But, the really dumb part is that there were three chances to catch these crooks. The first one slipped by when the cashier missed that the money was fake. The second one was missed because the manager was trying to be funny and prove a point. The third miss was just ignorance. These crooks should be in jail tonight, but instead they were not caught.
I do want to say that the cashier should be the least accountable for the stupidity in this story. They get pressure to keep their speed up from customers and management, so he was just trying to do his job. Of the staff at that Wal-Mart, it was the manager that decided to give the bills back that gets the award for stupidity. The cashier presumably made an honest mistake. The manager knew what was going on, and was trying to make a point (or a bad joke).
It was also mentioned that the counterfeit bills could wind up in circulation again, but they are marked. According to the store most cashiers would pick up on the markings and not accept the bill. But, the Wal-Mart cashier obviously didn’t pick up on it.
Of course, the Wal-Mart corporate office had no comment.
Source: WCPO.com