NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The Berry Hill Police Department is asking for the public's assistance in finding two suspects who made off with thousands of dollars in what they're calling a "Cash App Scheme."

According to Sgt. Russo with the BHPD, the suspects entered the Walgreens at 2611 8th Avenue South around 7:15 p.m. on June 9. Surveillance footage reportedly showed the two men go to the gift cards and then bring at least 10 cards to the store's counter.

Then, the suspects show the clerk a QR code and request that the clerk put $250 on each card, totaling $2,500. Police added that the store was busy and the cashier was relatively inexperienced.

"They either made up a code, or got a code from someone else," said Russo. "It's a QR code with a receipt on their phone saying, we have paid for these gift cards online already that you put money on."

Before the young cashier realizes it's a scam, the men are gone.

"They have a routine. They knew what they were doing. They knew what they would say to the novice cashier," added Russo.

News 2 obtained bodycam footage of the incident, which shows the manager explaining what happened to arriving officers.

"You have to pay for the card by cash?" asked the officer.

"With cash money," replied the manager. "People will come to you and tell you, 'I got an approval code on my phone just cash it out, it's paid for.' And he [the cashier] hit cash on the register; therefore, it activated the cards but they never paid any money."

"So how much for the cards?" the officer asked.

"They did about 10 cards for $250 each," the manager explained. "By the time I found out, it was too late."

According to Russo, the men are now able to use the gift cards just like cash.

"They have 10 cards with $250 each, so they have $2,500 bucks to spend on what they want," Russo told News 2.

Russo said he is working with other agencies to see if there are similar crimes and he is hopeful police, with the public's help, will identify the duo.

Based on surveillance footage, one of the suspects— who Russo called the "brains of the operation"— could be the most identifiable and was seen wearing a grey sweatsuit and a Chicago White Sox hat.

If you have any information about the incident, you asked to call the Berry Hill Police Department.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/they-knew-what-they-were-doing-berry-hill-police-search-for-suspects-connected-to-gift-card-scam/