Detectives from the Greenville Police Department's Financial Crimes Unit recently investigated the report of a Flim-Flam from a local restaurant. In this case, 2 con artists working together scammed a cashier out of several hundred dollars.
A Flim-Flam is a form of a con scheme, which involves confusing a store cashier by trying to change out large denomination notes and swapping money back and forth, until the cashier loses track of the transactions, and the con artist gets away with a bunch of money.
Very often, Flim-Flam artists work as a team. One person may distract the cashier with questions while the other person is requesting change for a large denomination bill, usually a $100 bill. The targeted cashier gets distracted and confused about how much money has been counted out and swapped. An excellent example of a Flim-Flam was portrayed in the 1973 movie, "Paper Moon" with Ryan and Tatum O'Neal: Flim-Flam
Sometimes a Flim-Flam begins with a customer claiming to have received the incorrect change or claiming to have paid with a higher denomination bill than they actually used. Scammers like to operate during busy times to keep the cashier off balance and confused.
Cashiers should stay alert and not allow themselves to be distracted or confused by customers. Avoid making change from large denomination bills for customers.
The Greenville Police Department encourages you to be in control of your transactions and to not allow the customer to intimidate or rush you. Complete one transaction at a time and always count your change back to the customer. Don't allow 1 person to distract you while you are dealing with another customer.
If you suspect somebody is trying to Flim-Flam you, call the police immediately.
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