Crime I'd never even thought of: Counterfeiting CoinStar receipts

By adamg on Fri, 08/28/2009 - 11:52am

Easton Police are on the lookout for a woman who seems to have gotten a roll of CoinStar receipt paper, which she's using to cash in bogus receipts at Shaw's Markets across the area.

The CoinTerfeiter has so far hit 30 different stores and gotten away with more than $6,000 - her receipts are always for exactly $203.53.

Know her? Contact Easton Police at 508-230-3322, ext. 125.

Topics:

Crime

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Comments

I will give her credit for

By ShadyMilkMan on Fri, 08/28/2009 - 12:24pm.

I will give her credit for figuring this out, this is obviously a hole in the system and it is a shock that nobody had figured this out already.

What she did wrong:

1) It is summer, she could have gotten away with the poneytail through a hat and big trendy sunglasses look in a super market without anyone being the wiser. This is not a bank, plenty of girls hit up supermarkets with the unwashed hair hidden under a baseball cap and big sunglasses to cover their eyes look. This would have blocked her from the cameras

2) Being a little more random would have made sense because anyone who deals with money will surely notice a trend when it comes to numbers. I can only assume that this is possibly the maximum that a coinstar will dole out? Possibly she just did it once and somehow photocopied the original receipt therefor explaining the same number. Either way you need to change the numbers around.

As for getting it done fast, to hit 30 stores without anyone noticing the accounting error, she must have done it all over the course of a day/weekend. Imagine being the guy who has to reconcile the machines with what Shaws gives you in receipts, I wonder how many times the poor guy/girl had to count all the coins in the machine by hand before they figured out they were duped the first/second/third time before the trend appeared?

I'd like to bang her

By Will LaTulippe on Fri, 08/28/2009 - 12:52pm.

There, I said it.

Some things are better not said

By Ron Newman on Fri, 08/28/2009 - 1:09pm.

Perhaps UH could put a 10-minute delay on your comments?

I find Will's comments

By HenryAlan on Fri, 08/28/2009 - 1:10pm.

I find Will's comments refreshing. He is a frequent reminder of how decent most of the other folks at Universal Hub are.

More HenryAlan, less Will LaTulippe.

By Anonymous on Fri, 08/28/2009 - 1:33pm.

I find HenryAlan's comment clever dry humor. I hope he continues to bring it.

If we could +1 rep comments

By anon on Fri, 08/28/2009 - 2:14pm.

If we could +1 rep comments here, I think this one would win the thread.

/Coming for Mr. Anon

Is it safe to assume she or

By anon on Fri, 08/28/2009 - 12:56pm.

Is it safe to assume she or a acquaintance is a stop and shop employee?

Shouldn't be too hard to catch her now. That said, I don't have much sympathy for CoinStar. Taking 10% to simply count change is theft.

OTOH, gift cards are free.

By Tricky on Fri, 08/28/2009 - 1:23pm.

OTOH, gift cards are free. If you're going to spend the money on books or CDs anyhow, whatsa matta with converting coin to Amazon money?

True.. They're paid by the

By anon on Fri, 08/28/2009 - 2:16pm.

True..

They're paid by the other Co's in that regard, and I find that much more appealing. Especially since in MA, you can buy some candy at the checkout, then ask for the remainder cash from the gift card.

Donations

By Crcala on Fri, 08/28/2009 - 1:29pm.

Donations are also free. They have a number of charities you can give to.

Count it yourself then! My

By ShadyMilkMan on Fri, 08/28/2009 - 1:39pm.

Count it yourself then!

My credit card charges 11.3 percent which is not a great rate but is not the worst (they do give me free stuff for using it.)

It could be worse, like payday lenders. Anyone using a coinstar is using it to get the gift certificates or just could not deal with counting the money themselves and just let the machine do it for them. Imagine the amount of time and effort you would have to put into rolling 200 dollars worth of pennies versus the 20 bucks it cost to convert? Between going to the bank to get rolling paper and sitting down and counting out 2,000 pennies into stacks of 200 and then going back to the bank surely you have already invested more then two hours worth of time and maybe a dollar or two in gas. If you get paid even 10 dollars an hour it evens out.

Some of us actually spend

By J on Fri, 08/28/2009 - 4:05pm.

Some of us actually spend our coins. I have 11 pennies in my wallet and a quarter. Next time I buy something, if the total is xx.36 or less, Im using the coins. If its over....well then Ill spend them all the next time with the new change I get

Now if only soda machines tok pennies...

Braintree Shaw's.