A Lincoln business suffered a $199 loss in an apparent quick change scam on Saturday.

Around 5:45 p.m., a man went to a checkout lane at the south Wal-Mart Supercenter, 8700 Andermatt Drive, and paid for a $1 DVD with a $50 bill, said Officer Katie Flood. In the middle of the transaction, he added a Gatorade.

After making the purchase, the man told the clerk he wanted to buy back the $50 bill with some smaller bills, Flood said. The man confused the clerk by pulling out different bills and asking to exchange them, and surveillance video shows him reaching to her cash drawer and taking money from her hand.

The suspect is described as a heavyset, middle-aged white man with brown hair and a beard, Flood said. He was seen with another man and woman, and they left in a silver minivan.

Police believe the man tried to scam another business about an hour later.

A man matching the suspect’s description went to the Walgreens store at 48th and O streets and paid for a pack of cigarettes with a $50 bill, Flood said. The man added a cookie to the transaction, then said he wanted to exchange some smaller bills for larger ones.

Surveillance video shows the man reaching across the counter to pick up the $50 bill, but the clerk stopped him, keeping the bill until the man gave her the correct change, Flood said.

Police have reason to believe the man might be pulling the scam outside of Lincoln as well. A suspect’s description in simular scams last summer matches the description of a man, Flood said. In one of those instances, a clerk saw a man leave in a vehicle with an Iowa license plate. Similar incidents have been reported at Walgreens  stores in Omaha.

Clerks who find themselves confused by a customer wanting to make change should ask another employee for help or make sure the change is correct before giving the customer any money, Flood said.

Reach Hilary Kindschuh at 473-7120 or hkindschuh@journalstar.com.