Exmouth businesses targeted by money changing scam

Police are urging businesses in Exmouth to be on their guard after recent reports of a scam that involves changing money and is referred to as 'ringing the changes' (see below for a full explanation).

According to a statement issued by Devon and Cornwall Police: "Reports are that two men are possibly entering shops although one tries to appear to be on his own.

"Suspect one is described as mixed-race, possibly Asian, chubby build - not tall - in his late 30s or 40s and wearing a black hoody.

"Suspect two is described as white around 5ft 10 in height with short dark hair and in his mid 30s.

"Please advise staff accordingly regarding this scam, which involves being distracted by whilst being asked to change notes for smaller currency."

Below is an explanation of how 'ringing the changes' scam works, courtesy of Devon and Cornwall Police:

"'Ringing the changes' is a term used for a type of fraud which involves the offender asking for a sum of cash to be changed into notes of a different denomination, for example 10 x £20 notes changed to 20 x £10.

"Once the cashier has counted out the cash and handed it to the offender, the offender will usually count the money again in front of the cashier and use a sleight of hand technique as he/she is doing so, in order to steal some of the money.

"The offender will then ask the cashier to change the money again, often into an outlandish denomination such as 10p pieces. The cashier will refuse and it is at this point that the offender will then ask for his/her original money back.

"The cashier assumes that the offender is handing back the full amount and exchanges it for the original money. The offender leaves with the original money, plus whatever they stole during the sleight of hand trick.

"It is not unusual for the scam to go unnoticed until the tills are cashed at the end of the day. 'Ringing the changes' usually happens during busy times which adds to the confusion and places extra pressure on staff."