Oddly I think it is a genuine scam
although I am basing this on the fact that there was a recent Viz story about "Elton John's Twenty Pound Note Scam" that worked in exactly the same way. I didn't understand it then either, mind.
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Thu 13 Oct 2011, 20:14, 2 replies)

Essentially they try to confuse you....
...by handing you money, then taking it out of your hands, then swapping it for a smaller amount, then back, then giving you a larger note. It's pretty confusing but if you know it's coming you can keep an eye out.

The one thing I forgot to add is around 5 months later he walked into the pub again and I was sat in the bar discussing third world debt and the plight of big breasted. He tried to do it again but this time to my Mum but I noticed him in time. I stood right next to him and put my arm round him and gave him a little wink. He went whiter than Michael Jackson, appologised and left never to be seen again.
( The only Dave is pushing things forward, Thu 13 Oct 2011, 21:02, closed)

Did your mum give him a cup of tea,
whilst you were distracting him?
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Thu 13 Oct 2011, 21:27, closed)

Yeah it's a real con
To my eternal shame, as a naive trusting lad of 16 working in the local Tesco, I once fell for this hook line and sinker. It was only after he'd gone and I'd replayed the events slowly back in my head that I realised I'd been fleeced.
( Zoroastermouse thinks therefore he am, Fri 14 Oct 2011, 17:04, closed)

Fucking horrible....
....wasn't it?
( The only Dave is pushing things forward, Fri 14 Oct 2011, 20:40, closed)

Yeah it really was
It's such a small thing, but I still feel a bit embarrassed thinking how I was totally outsmarted by a stranger all those years ago. The worst thing was, when I told my mates at school they informed me that Penn and Teller had explained the con in detail on their TV show a few nights before - so he wasn't even a criminal mastermind, he'd just watched a TV show! Fucker.
( Zoroastermouse thinks therefore he am, Sat 15 Oct 2011, 2:44, closed)