AN alleged conman has been caught tricking a Costa Blanca bar with the ‘bait and switch’ method.
CCTV at the Artesano cafe and juice bar in Moraira captures the sleight-of-hand in full.
The video shows an unidentified man paying for two soft drinks worth €6 using a €50 note.
The man offers an extra €1 in return for €45 change in notes.
While the busy bar tender is at the till, the alleged con-artist pockets the €50 and asks where to buy cigarettes.
The man later shows an empty wallet, confident he’s already handed over the €50.
He leaves with his €45 change and exits in the opposite direction to the tobacco shop.
“I was so busy I couldn’t remember taking the 50 euros from him,” Ismael Harrak, co-owner of Artesano, told the Olive Press.
“Something didn’t feel right when I handed over the change.
“But it was only when we checked CCTV we realised what happened.”
The bar has yet to make a denuncia to Guardia Civil in Teulada-Moraira.
Teulada-Moraira Town Hall declined to a request for comment.