Officers are warning local businesses of a scam where customers are asking to exchange bank notes.
At around 10.40am on Saturday 5 September 2020 a man entered McColl’s on The Parade with £900 in £10 notes and claimed he was from a local Sainsbury’s store. He asked if the cash could be changed into £20 notes.
The shop worker exchanged the money and placed it down on the counter for him to retrieve. The offender then stated he had asked for the money in £5 notes instead.
During the transaction, the shop lost a total of £420 as the man retained a number of notes without the shop worker realising.
The man is described as white and spoke with a possible Eastern European accent. He was wearing a grey cap, black jumper, a Sainsbury’s maroon-coloured body warmer, beige trousers and beige boots.
Three similar incidents were reported to have occurred at the Co-op on Ringwood Road and the Post Office on Culliford Crescent between Monday 31 August and Sunday 6 September 2020.
Police Community Support Investigator Adam Cleaver, of Poole police, said: “I would like to remind local shops not to exchange large quantities of money as you may be at risk of being scammed.
“We have been carrying out an investigation into all four incidents and enquiries are ongoing to identify the people involved.
“If you have been a victim of a similar incident, please let us know. Alternatively, if you have any information to assist our enquiries please get in touch.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact Dorset Police at www.dorset.police.uk, via email [email protected] or by calling 101, quoting occurrence number 55200133431. Alternatively, to stay 100 per cent anonymous, contact the independent charity Crimestoppers online at Crimestoppers-uk.org or call Freephone 0800 555 111.
