A woman has come forward with a cautionary tale about being allegedly shortchanged by a friendly cashier at a hypermarket in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, saying the cashier would repeatedly claim she was underpaid by RM100–RM150 despite being paid in full.
According to mStar, the incident, which reportedly took place around 2019, resurfaced after the woman shared her experience online to warn others about being too trusting when paying with cash, especially in busy retail settings.
A regular at the supermarket
According to the woman, she said she used to go to one particular supermarket to buy goods for her business.
But there was something odd in the demeanor of one of the cashiers at the supermarket.
“While making payment, the cashier, who always seemed so nice and chatty, would often say my payment was short by RM100 or RM150.”
“At the time, cashless systems like QR payments weren’t commonly used, meaning most transactions relied on physical cash, which made it difficult to verify payments without CCTV footage,” she said.
Red flags
The woman said she initially had no suspicions because the cashier was always polite and struck up conversations at the checkout counter.
The cashier even once asked for her phone number, supposedly to order food from her small business.
But one day, the woman received a text message from the cashier claiming that she was underpaid by RM40 during her previous visit and that she (the cashier) had to cover the difference out of her own pocket.
That’s when I started getting suspicious. I suddenly remembered how she often told me I didn’t pay enough even when I was sure I did.
“I had trusted her because I was tired from shopping and just wanted to settle quickly. Maybe I was a little too naive.”
Asked for CCTV footage, cashier panics
Determined not to fall for what she now believed could be a scam, the woman told the cashier she wanted to check the CCTV footage before paying back RM40.
I told her, if the CCTV shows that I really underpaid her, I’ll return the money. But this is my sister’s business—I’m just helping her. Right after I said that, she started panicking.”
The woman concluded her post by urging others, especially those who pay with cash, to double-check and calculate their money carefully before handing it over to cashiers.
“Cash-based businesses face many risks. This experience was a hard lesson for me, and I hope others don’t fall for the same tactic.”
