The Lubbock Police Department said it has had a number of businesses report similar thefts, which they are calling ‘quick change’ thefts.
According to Lieutenant Ray Mendoza with Lubbock Police, the department has had at least 10 reports of similar issues since January 16.
“Basically it’s a scam where they confuse the cashier or the clerk, basically by running a bunch of different change orders for their currency, and eventually wind up getting more money than what they originally asked for change for,” Mendoza said.
Mendoza said the cases have been reported at a number of different businesses around the city. He said police believe these cases are likely related.
Mendoza said the reports have similar suspect descriptions, and “a lot of them [the businesses] have video they were able to provide, the same vehicles involved in nearly all of them, so we think they’re all related,” he said.
“We’ve noticed, a lot of the times, they’re going and approaching the younger cashiers or clerks, they also appear to be focusing in on anywhere where the register is at the counter,” Mendoza said.
Mendoza said he thought the people may be from out of state. “These guys, we believe them to be professional, we don’t think they’re local, of course, but they’re coming in here with one intention, and that’s to steal the money from somebody’s business,” he said.
