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Chipotle Victim of ‘Change Raising’ Scam, Police Seek Two Middle-Aged Males

High Country Crime Stoppers and Boone Police seek the public’s assistance in solving the following crime:

On July 12, two men entered the Chipotle Restaurant located at 1787 Blowing Rock Rd. in Boone and placed an order. One of the men presented money to the cashier and requested change. After receiving his change, the man made follow up requests for additional change. This resulted in the store being scammed and suffering a loss of money. The other man that was present was shown on the surveillance images distracting other employees while his partner committed the scam.

The suspects are described as two black males of middle age. One suspect is of a heavier build with glasses and jewelry and missing a lot of teeth. The other suspect is of a lighter build. There were no other descriptive details provided. Please see the attached images.

This type of scam is commonly known as a “change raising scam” or a “short changing scam.” There are a variety of scams that involve misdirection or confusion of a store clerk to gain more money in the transaction. In this case, the suspect made multiple transactions in a short amount of time which confused the clerk into thinking that it was correct.

If you are working in a business and you are approached by a customer or person seeking change, conduct only one transaction at a time. If you allow the suspect to continued handing money back and forth then it is easy to get confused. However, it is easier to keep track of what is happening with each transaction if you conduct them separately.

Anyone with information on this crime or any other crime is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 828-268-6959 / 828-737-0125 or the Boone Police Department at 828-268-6900. You may also submit a Crime Stoppers Tip via our website at https://www.tipsubmit.com/webtips.aspx?AgencyID=1251 or Text “NCTIP plus your tip” to 274637 (CRIMES). All information will be kept confidential.

High Country Crime Stoppers pays rewards for information, which leads to arrests; recovery of stolen property; seizure of drugs and the location of wanted persons.

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