When picturing a swindler, a high school classmate pushing a multi-level marketing scheme disguised as an “irresistible opportunity to be your own boss” via DM or George Santos might spring to mind. Your friendly local bartender, on the other hand, probably wouldn’t be the first person you’d think of. But according to a new thread posted on the popular subreddit r/bartenders, scams behind the stick are much more common than one may expect.
The conversation started when user LOUDCO-HD asked: “What kind of scams are fellow ‘tenders pulling at your bar?” Their inspiration: a former employee at their bar who routinely brought their own 30-racks of Bud Light to sell to customers alongside the Bud purchased by the bar. At the end of the night, the bartender would nab the money from “his cans” from the register. With cans priced at $5.50, this scammer made quite a chunk of change, considering he was shifting between eight and 10 cases per month. Eventually, the crook was caught and fired.
