The man was caught trying to con the shopkeeper in East Lothian.
CCTV captured a man attemtping to con a shopkeeper in a Scots town. Staff at USave Mini Market in Tranent, East Lothian, shared the brazen footage of the incident.
The clip shows a man as he tries to hand over a glass bottle of water already in his bag instead of the bottle of vodka he tried to purchase after his card was declined at the shop yesterday, Monday, December 15, reports Edinburgh Live.
The man, who was dressed in a black jacket and blue jeans, was carrying a backpack. The footage catches him put the vodka bottle in his bag before he takes out what appears to be an identical looking bottle – with the shopkeeper soon discovering it was filled with water.
His bag was not visible to the shopkeeper as it was placed on the floor throughout the aborted transaction. The video also shows the alleged thief carefully placing the real booze in the bag.
The man is then asked a number of questions before he attempts to tap his card again. The shopkeeper comes out from behind the counter and stops the male leaving the store.
The bottle of vodka is taken from his bag before the CCTV footage ends. Warning locals on social media, USave bosses said: “This scammer goes around the shops and asks for a bottle of vodka and when his payment card declines, he returns a bottle filled with water.”
The owner of the shop confirmed the incident is yet to be reported to police.
