Police warn of alleged Hobby Lobby store scammer

ROSWELL, Ga. — Police in four local cities are looking for a woman they say has been scamming cashiers at Hobby Lobby stores.

Surveillance video obtained by Channel 2's Mike Petchenik shows the woman walk into the Holcomb Bridge Road location late last month.  Police said the woman made a small purchase, and then asked the cashier to exchange a $100 bill for five $20 bills.

"When the exchange takes place and she gets the $100, she quickly changes it to a $10 billand tells the register lady,  'You accidentally gave me a $10,' and the cashier hands over another $100," said officer Lisa Holland.

Holland said police in Buford, Stone Mountain and Cumming were also looking for the woman after she pulled the trick at store locations in those cities.  Police said a cashier at the Buford location didn't fall for the trick because store officials had already circulated a picture of the woman before she visited the location.

"You can accumulate a good amount of money in one day if you went to all of the stores," she said.  "They get distracted with people in line and end up cleaning out their drawer without people knowing what happened to them."

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Police said it's possible the woman has been targeting other stores, too. 

Customers told Petchenik they aren't surprised someone would commit such a crime.

"I guess people are desperate," said Jennifer Black.

Customer Shannon Nesmith told Petchenik she works on a car lot where they deal with lots of cash transactions.  She said she can empathize with the cashiers at Hobby Lobby.

 "Because of the economy people are doing some ... things just to come up some kind of way," she said.

Anyone with information on the woman's identity is asked to call the Roswell Police Department with information.

WSBTV