A restaurant in Missouri got their own back after a customer used a fake bill to pay for their meal.
The dine-and-dasher managed to get away with using a novelty $1,000 (£746) bill at Michael’s Bar and Grill in Manchester, in the US state.
When the servers realised they were duped, they rushed out and realised that the man had left with his leftovers in his Lexus.
He had ordered a burger and multiple sides at the eatery, which was located just 20 miles from St. Louis, before paying with the bill, which the busy server believed was a $100 bill, for a $40 meal, report First Alert 4.
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Luckily though, the establishment got their payback against the perpetrator through the use of social media.
The bill itself was called 'ancestor money', which is a symbolic currency in Chinese tradition that is burned in rituals as it's believed that ancestors can enjoy material possessions in the afterlife as a result.
But after the man got away on Sunday (12 October), the restaurant and its employees took action, by posting a picture of the man who tried to get away with the crime, all over social media.
It turns out that shaming him and plastering his image on Facebook worked wonders.
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After being forced to be held accountable for his actions, Michael's said that the trickster who gave them the fake money returned the very next day to settle his bill, even apologising for what he'd done.
That's not all though, as he even tipped the servers to top off his feelings of shame.
Despite this man coming to his senses and righting his wrongs, it turns out that workers at the restaurant, which has been around for nearly 50 years, said that there's been an increase in people dining and dashing recently.
Speaking to the publication, server Kristina Moriarty admitted: “Unfortunately, it’s happened quite a few times lately,
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“We have cameras everywhere. We have license plate readers, we have facial recognition that we had to invest in because unfortunately, these things keep happening to small businesses around here.”
Michael's, after seeing the results of taking action against fraudsters like this, has now started posting photos of those looking to do the same, on its online wall of shame, for all to see.
Bartender Dawn Lamb threatened that they 'are going to expose you' if you try to leave without paying, adding: "We’re going to make it aware. So we again can prevent this from happening.”
Thank goodness for social media (for once), eh?
Topics: Crime, Social Media, US News, Food And Drink
Joshua Nair