Short Count

PLAYERS:

• Customer

GAME:

1. The customer purchases a low-priced item (usually less then a dollar) with a ten-dollar bill.
2. After the change has been returned the customer says "I don't actually want all this change, im sure you could use it more then I could." He then offers the cashier ten one-dollar bills in exchange for the ten dollar bill he used to make his original purchase.
3. The customer must now get the cashier to hand over the store's ten dollar note. This can be accomplished by holding onto the money until the cashier offers the ten-dollar bill. The customer then takes the ten-dollar bill while simultaneously handing over the 'ten dollars in change'. What the customer will actually hand over is nine one-dollar bills and a ten-dollar bill, a total of $19.
4. When the cashier notices that the customer made a mistake, the customer acts surprised and thanks her for catching the error. If the cashier does not catch the intentional blooper, the customer brings it to the cashier's attention saying that he might have made a mistake and would he/she please recount the money. As soon as the cashier is aware she is now holding the $19 instead of $10, the customer immediately says "Here's another dollar to add to the $19 i gave you in exchange for a twenty.
5. The customer leaves the store with a $10 profit.

note: This process is difficult to grasp after only one reading, but it is this confusion that makes the scam work.