Scammer warning as shop owner is conned in Portals Nous

A BRITISH shop owner in Portals Nous, Calvia has sent out a warning after being scammed by a man who ‘bought’ two items. The man showed the owner a €50 note but did not hand it over. The value of the items came to an odd amount, and as she was counting out the change, the man deliberately distracted her and found the odd amount of change in his pocket.

Before the owner handed the man his change, he again distracted her by asking for one €20 note and two €10 notes in his change. The man took the change and picked up his items, but never handed over the €50 note.

Then as he was leaving the shop, he distracted her again by asking for a recommendation on somewhere to eat. It was only when the owner went back in to the shop that she realised she had been scammed.

Now the owner, who wishes not to be named, says: “I just wanted to warn people to watch out for this scam. It is very easy to fall for.”

The man has been described as being approximately five feet 10 inches tall, possibly eastern European with very poor English.

He had thick but short black hair, was dark skinned and thick set. He also has a very visible scar that starts from the bottom right hand side of his chin and continues upwards to the left side of his top lip.