Con artist in downtown New Bedford

There is a possible con artist working his scam in downtown New Bedford. From one of our readers:

I work at a shop downtown and a man came in yesterday to buy a bottle of water. When he got to the register he paid with a $50 bill and then tried to quick change me and trick me into giving him an extra $50 because he wanted a hundred dollar bill for his “poker game”. I explained to him why he didn’t have the correct amount and basically he kept trying to convince me that the change I had already given him was his money plus the $50 he started with. He counted the money out on the register and kept asking me to change bills for him in order confuse me.

 

I explained to him why he didn’t have enough money for the hundred dollar bill and he left. Then today a friend of mine came in and said he had gotten ripped off by a guy for $20 who did the same thing, saying he wanted a larger bill for his “poker game” then described the same guy I had encountered the day before. I just wanted to post this so people weren’t also falling for it. Downtown is filled with small, local shops and it’s a shame when anyone gets ripped off, even for $20.

 

He is a short, light skinned black male and he was wearing a hat. He’s probably in his mid to late 60’s, and since both times he has mentioned poker, I figure that is his go-to excuse for needing bigger bills.