Use that. But also make a template in Canva. Dupe it and tweak a few things. Do that a few times, so you have a decent variety of them. Restaurant name larger, another font with Title Case instead of ALL CAPS, $ next to the number on some and separated on others, etc.
Be sure you occasionally add the pink stripe to signify the end of the paper roll. Digitally tear off a corner on most. Use a variety of wood grain and laminate backgrounds and a big drop shadow so it looks like it's on hotel furniture, make them a tad crooked.
Once you have a few templates submit a few receipts. Then, every time you make a new receipt, grab elements from a few of your templates to make a new one.
Once you have enough, you'll probably fly under the radar. But if they all look alike, you'll get caught.
Yes, and it's always a big one because you are there for work, have the funds, and want to leave a good impression with the staff for when you are there next! :)
This is great advice although I will say don’t worry too much about the pink strip. It only happens at the end of the roll so most of the receipts don’t have it and it wouldn’t be unusual if none of yours have it. If anything it would be suspicious if the pink strip was exactly the same on multiple of them. Maybeee they would think it was suspicious if they investigated it and looked through all of them but at that point you’re probably gonna be caught. They can check the restraunt menu and shit and see if stuff lines up or notice some other inconsistency somewhere unless you’re gonna spend tons of time making them all perfect
It's not about keeping track. It's about lending realness so you don't arouse suspicion. Blend in, but in plain sight. Someone is going to look those over and verify expenses.
Additional tips: Google image search the city name and “restaurant receipt” to pull images of real receipts in that city as templates. Also stick to some staples like Starbucks so that you don’t need to constantly work so hard figuring out options to reach your per diem amount.
This.
My work uses a 3rd party to handle expenses and they do random audits. You would 100% get caught. A quick google search is enough to see if something is amiss.
But also If they aren’t sure about the receipt they’ll ask to see a copy of your credit card or bank statement.
Is it worth you losing your job to get the extra $? How many days unemployed until you break even? Just take the lower amount regularly and enjoy life with good meals with the larger amount from time to time.
Cash. No way your work is auditing your personal purchases. I'd resign if my employer requested my personal bank statememts. OP sounded like he was using personal funds and not a company credit card. Really hard to audit this, and OP should write most of them to small Podunk restaurants and not big chains. Auditing this would cost the company WAYYYY more than what OP would be claiming, just saying. I'm writing this from a hotel I'm receiving per diem for, and have been personally audited by the office of the inspector general.
I would contact over seas a lot. One of the things we would do is go to a supply store that sells receipts and buy a variety and a reusable/changeable ink stamp. Receipts all day
I need one of these for a doctor note. I made my own, and it was barely convincing. I was "sick" for 5 days while I took a road trip to see the eclipse. Worth it.
Mine is $25 and it takes 2 weeks to get seen. Haven't even put a chip in my $5k deductible this year. Blue cross blue shield is basically shit healthcare until I need a million dollar procedure. Then it's great, except for I'll be almost fucking dying.
All my labs, screens, and specialists are out of pocket. It doesn't make sense. You would think it's in their best interest to keep me healthy before my late stage ass implosion renal catastrophe.
Assuming you have a plan through your employer, it's your employer's choice to choose the $5k deductible, for significantly lower premiums. Most insurance companies (I have Blue Cross) have a variety of plans at a variety of prices. Not to say Blue Cross Blue Shield might not be shit, but it's not all their fault.
For sure. I only pay $200 for "unlimited" and dental. The $5k is reasonable if I go to the doc twice a month and really work the system. My dermatologist is $20k per year alone. They also cover viagra and Adderall.
And buy a cheap receipt printer off of ebay along with some paper and you should be good to go.
They usually attach via usb so you can pop it into any pc.
Also…depending who looks at the receipts, don’t find/make receipts that would make it seem like you are unhealthy or healthy 24/7. Always need to find a balance lol
The company I work for deploys these to clients, so we have a ton. And it also makes sense for some of us remote workers to have these in our home to troubleshoot & get familiar with. Anyway, if it came down to it. I could probably print fake receipts pretty easy. Irony.
Probably need to ensure that no one in accounting goes to the same restaurant. I travel often for work to the same place so a new receipt format would probably set off some alarm bells
If you were taking food from home with you before maybe you can do the opposite? Buy extra meals and take it home, you'll save on your groceries and as a bonus have a little more free time since you'll be cooking and shopping less?
Up your game. Sign up for rewards and get points.
For inspiration: George Clooney in Up in the Air:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDgFAFQGZbI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDgFAFQGZbI)
Ask a person sitting in a restaurant for their receipt.
Edit: this was my silly thought but if their credit information on there that is a giveaway. They'd need to pay cash and have no personal information on the ticket. So long as you submit a receipt from a spot near your hotel and all it lists is the restaurant information, order, and total this might work.
However, once you have that receipt you can scan and Photoshop the receipt to reflect your info.
Then print it, give it a little crumple, and take a picture with your phone. Submit that picture as your receipt.
I was on a flight one time and the guy next to me was altering all of his digital receipts on his laptop. Take some adobe lessons online. If the receipt is on a website, you can right click it and select inspect. A little HTML knowledge and you can make it say whatever you want.
If you’re in the US, this is extremely easy. Check your email for a square receipt, you get those from the tip tablets at restaurants/coffee shops, if you leave your email
If you or someone you trust have one , all you need after that is some basic html editing
Lol, i did something similar, i was as consultant in the US and I didnt know anything about food stamps and I sent a receipt that was paid with those. Not sure why they didnt fire me, I guess they really needed me, i of course stopped doing that after that incident
Most restaurants I've been to have a receipt that has no CC info, and a separate CC confirmation with none of the itemized info I need for reimbursement.
Yeah, over here if you pay with card you get the same receipt as you would if you paid cash, you just get an additional receipt with all the CC stuff on it.
Digitally altered photos can be detected, some payroll software even has it built in. Spend a little on a receipt printer, then take pictures of the altered receipts you print. Undetectable. Costs a little more and is a little more work, but it should pay for itself in no time.
Those systems screen for changes in metadata, and are easily fooled by screenshotting your final product. They can’t really fault you for uploading a “screenshot” of a receipt instead of a scanned PNG/JPG.
I have also wondered this as I rarely reach my daily meal allowance limit.
I get scared that somehow the accounting department will be able to tell if it's fake or edited.
Then, if they asked for proof, like from a bank statement, i would get caught and fired.
My fears often keep me from committing fraud. It is tempting, though.
Yeah, really wondering why the answer here is to not eat like a king on the company dime? I’m not trying to prep and pack food when I can run a company card. And even if it’s a process to send in receipts and get reimbursed, it’s so many extra steps to fake it for what can’t be a huge payout?
I don't prep or pack. I just don't eat a lot. I'm good for probably 2 meals a day.
My allowance is something like $75/day. I honestly forget because I know I don't come near it. I eat what I want, but after 3 years of road life, nothing is too appetizing anymore.
I fully get that. I myself have hit a wall where I often just do not care what I eat at any given meal. It just feels like a lot of work to get a small payout for something you’d be doing anyway. I just take the “profit” of not having to buy a meal that day.
No worries, I didn't take offense or anything. And you're not wrong, there is minimal payout. I think it's more just the temptation lol
These last few years have given me so much perspective and really make me hate working for "the man".
I have 20 years restaurant management experience and am now at the above restaurant level. To see all these upper people spending company money like it's nothing after knowing how the individual stores are squeezed for costs like labor, for example, is unsettling at best.
I'll never forget the first time I sat with someone as they ordered the filet for lunch. I was just looking at him thinking how I just attended the meeting where he scrutinized the P&L of his restaurants.
I don't have the conscience for corporate. I need to find a nice non-profit to work for.
I used to stay at places with kitchens on longer trips and buy groceries and bring stuff home as long as it didn’t require refrigeration. My per diem was closer to $40.
If you do the cash receipt scam be sure to constantly withdraw cash regularly from your bank account so this makes sense in an audit.
> I need to find a nice non-profit to work for.
While there are definitely solid and good non-profits out there to work for there are also plenty that have people just as shady as the for-profit sector.
I’m in sales, and while it does take spending money to make money in a lot of circumstances, I totally get your point. Don’t eat high off the hog if it’s just you, spend the money where it counts, buying JW Blues for the head of procurement.
I'm with you on that. Additionally, dining alone is not exactly fun.
What started off as a decent dinner with drinks after checking into the hotel quickly turned into a bowl of salad, some sandwiches and a bottle of wine in the room. Did that for years despite having a Co card with no limit.
This is really the way to go. I never eat better than when I travel for work. Steak, desert, appetizers, all the things I don't buy for myself when home. My work also pays for one alcoholic beverage with dinner. You bet your ass I'm getting the $20 margarita with the high end tequila.
Yeah, I really dont get this, splurge while youve got a completely legitimate, completely legal, completely moral way to do so.
Why bother going to all this trouble to risk losing clearly a nice job, over what will end up amounting to maybe over a grand tops, that will end up screwing you hard
I'm not even going to try and pretend that I haven't stolen from work before but definitely not a regular thing and certainly not falsifying records and committing fraud to do it.
It's never worth losing a well paying job over these types of fraud. I work in accounting for F500 and I've seen several people get fired over committing fraud in their personal expense reports in the past few years.. even over silly things such as buying gift cards and expensing them as meals.
I've thought about that, too. Seems like it would work as long as the receipt also says cash.
One I've always wondered about is the hotels. I pay all my expenses up front, and get reimbursed the following week.
On weeks where I have managed my funds poorly, I've sometimes cashed in points for hotel rooms rather than paying. Which leaves me not getting reimbursed because the room was technically free. Very tempted to digitally alter those receipts.
Yes. But the receipt is now the only proof. No bank statement/credit card statement as OP mentioned being worried about having to produce.
Hands accounting receipt for meal.
Accounting: “Hmm this seems suss. Hey OP, can you provide a credit card statement backing up these charges?”
OP: “Nope, I paid in cash”
End Scene.
You've never worked anywhere that actually reimbursed people or had an accounting department, have you?
>Accounting: “Hmm this seems suss. Hey OP, can you provide a credit card statement backing up these charges?” OP: “Nope, I paid in cash” End Scene.
That may work. Once. You think they're just going to take someones word for multiple cash payments with zero proof? Or maybe you've just never seen a receipt before....
Yes. If there is an approval process, it’ll be a person’s job to do this. It may work once, but you’ll eventually get caught, and then they’ll look at your entire history. Suddenly, you’re out of the job if you’re lucky. If you’re not lucky, you’re not only out of the job, but you’re going to be paying back every dollar that you obtained via fraud, and the case will be recommended to the police if you’ve stolen enough.
I know we use a software program. My direct boss approves mine, then it is sent for a second approval from the accounts payable department. Plus whatever checks the software may be doing.
Could something fall through the cracks? Absolutely.
Do I want to risk my job on it? Nah.
And the tricky thing about theft/fraud/whatever you want to call it... it's a slippery slope. It doesn't take long for "extra" money to not be extra anymore, and then your budget depends on it, and you are willing to go further and further.
Don’t do this. Let them pay for your food. If they find just one item on one receipt that doesn’t make sense, they’ll audit every single one you submit and realize you’re committing fraud.
This is a silly reason to get fired. A safer way to do this, if possible while traveling go to a grocery store and buy and bunch of your normal groceries. Say “I get prepared foods etc. For meals” and just take the groceries home. You’re not pocketing the cash but you are saving on next week’s groceries.
This, I do it and my work doesn't reject it, it's still less than actual meals so they probably like me doing it anyway. If they suddenly decided they don't like it they'll just not pay it and you know it doesn't work, but no risk of being caught for it as they were actual purchases. But I'd have bought the items either way so I'm not down.
I’d check company policy with this one though.
My work allows us to expense prepared foods but not groceries, so worth checking before dropping cash on food and not being able to be reimbursed
This is honestly what i was curious about. Like, why not, especially if you shop at night too. Then you can also say "oh yeah, resturants were closed, but Walmart had packaged spaghetti, so that worked for me"
If you don't need an itemized receipt, buy a gift card for a round number, say $40, and buy a soft drink, to make your total bill a random number $43.18, for example. Use the gift card when eating on your own time and money. Or you could probably sell them for 50 cent s on the dollar.
I work in consulting and have to report my time and expenses as well. This seems like a sure fire way to get audit involved and get fired for falsifying expense reports. Take the per diem at the non-receipt amount.
Forward Uber eats recipes to yourself . Edit it and send to yourself. Go to places that email a receipt and again forward to your self and edit in message . Snip and copy to save .
I know someone who did this. He got fired and prosecuted. Had to pay over $17,000 in penalties and fines. Wife divorced him. Lost his house....for being a dishonest shithead!!!!!!!
Character.....It's something you have, not something you are!
Just go eat someplace one day and then tell them that you eat at the same place and order the same thing every day and use Photoshop to change the date on the receipt .
Are you allowed to use food delivery services? Or order groceries from Amazon to your hotel? Place an order and immediately cancel it it will give you enough time to screenshot the receipt. Or you could order something from Amazon with food that's easy to return, like a 12 pack of soda or something.
Don't do the fake receipt thing. These receipts are used to pay you back, HOWEVER, they are used if they get an audit. If you get caught in this audit you could be charged in federal court with fraud.
Lmao dude are you fr going to jeopardize your career and expose yourself to felony level charges to skim a benjamin a day traveling? When you could just eat well on the company dime?
I know it's ULPT but this is the definition of "not worth"
I had a coworker make fake receipts (he was spending the money on golfing) but got caught because other employees went to the same restaurant and this one guy's receipts were different.
The big chains all have consistent receipt layouts and fonts, etc.
FYI you're committing fraud submitting fake receipts and if caught will be up shit creek.
i would try going to a place that has some younger people serving and asking them if they could print out receipts for you. if it were me back then, i’d do it for $10
My employer would do $100/day for meals including groceries. They would explain that it’s a limit and not a challenge. It’s shockingly difficult to spend that much per day on food. Also, eating out three meals a day for a month gets exhausting (I’ll be so happy to never step into a Cheesecake Factory again).
My coworker would go to Whole Foods, buy 10 frozen pizzas then, while standing at the register, return them all for a gift card. He’d then submit the pizza receipt and have groceries covered for months.
It’s a good thing he had a way to pay for groceries because corporate found out and canned him.
Go get a drink at the bar at a restaurant and check the waste baskets by the point of sale terminals at the servers use. They will be full of receipts from that day from all of their tables that have already paid and left. They just get thrown away.
When I had daily allowance I used to just go buy groceries up to the daily limit and turned those receipts in. Never had an issue and had plenty of food to bring home with me.
Take people out to lunch. At a Cafe or food court. Tell them you'll buy their food, but they have to pay you half the total price. Keep the receipt, they eat the purchased meal, you sit down and rat your home brought food.
You can easily edit PDF / emailed receipts from Grubhub/Uber eats .. assuming you have a few “staples” you frequently order to the hotel or for pickup it shouldn’t raise any flags
Most places use Square (or similar Point of Sales software) that will have an option to email you a receipt. Get that emailed receipt and do some basic HTML editing
Recommend you take a hit up front to get a small item from restaurants you could reasonably visit for breakfast lunch and dinner on a trip. Like get a coffee at a diner and actual lunch at a cafe and actual dinner at Vietnamese. Take a photo of the menu.
Now you have receipts and legit items to add. In the oddball case that it ever gets reviewed.
Make sure your co workers see you pay in cash when you legit go out.
Finally, be an asshole if anyone asks you how and why you eat so much on travel but always under per diem. (“Because I know how to stay under budget, unlike some PMs around here.”)
Go to a stationary store they sell guest receipt books then get a date stamper and different color ink pads. You are in business my friend. My company did the same years ago. I had/have at least 10 books
Dumpster dive and or search the parking lots. Other then that there are receipts making apps out there. Technically you just need one and the ability to edit it honestly.
Easiest is to go to a restaurant that offers emailed receipts like Panera. Then you can print to PDF and edit the document. You'll need to constantly check prices to see if they've gone up or down
Reading some of the fake receipt replies, someone should make a website (maybe it’s out there or someone said this in these comments…) for this. Maybe it allows you to input the city, date, and amounts, and the site gives you a receipt for what you need, with plenty of variety so people don’t have to build their own templates. A good coder could probably make the receipts, menu items, etc. match real places in the city you need. This feels like a site that people could contribute to in an open-source kind of way, and make it a robust per-diem-scheme thing. Someone get on this!
How serious are they about checking up on you, cause i actually run a restaurant, i can send you receipts, they'd be genuine receipts, but my restaurant is the only one and it's in MO
Why not just buy a gift card for the amount you are allotted for a grocery store. This way you get the full amount for meals and can use it wherever you want.
Pretty sure this is not just unethical but illegal. Not sure if this would fall under fraud or embezzlement but you would 100% get fired, forced to repay the money, and possibly face criminal charges. And finding the next job would be a challenge with that on your record
I would just use the funds for what it is intended and just eat out and save on groceries.
This is fraud. Don’t do it. BUT if you were going to do it, get a square register and a thermal receipt printer. You can print whatever receipt you want with whatever business name and logo you want with zero photoshop experience.
Order Uber eats a couple times to have some legitimate places, and then just edit the email receipt for new days / times / items / etc? As long as your firm accepts email receipts / screenshots from the app.. But in 2024, not sure why they wouldn't haha
Also, just one thing to keep in mind - a banker from wells Fargo (I think?) was fired because he expensed two meals instead of one, even though they were under budget. The firm said it's policy is only for his own meal, and cannot cover any additional. So just be aware that firms are potentially cracking down on this, and might not be worth the hassle
https://makereceipt.com/create-receipt-online.php?style=Restaurant%20%20Receipt
Use that. But also make a template in Canva. Dupe it and tweak a few things. Do that a few times, so you have a decent variety of them. Restaurant name larger, another font with Title Case instead of ALL CAPS, $ next to the number on some and separated on others, etc. Be sure you occasionally add the pink stripe to signify the end of the paper roll. Digitally tear off a corner on most. Use a variety of wood grain and laminate backgrounds and a big drop shadow so it looks like it's on hotel furniture, make them a tad crooked. Once you have a few templates submit a few receipts. Then, every time you make a new receipt, grab elements from a few of your templates to make a new one. Once you have enough, you'll probably fly under the radar. But if they all look alike, you'll get caught.
This guy counterfeits.
Nah, just know how I would do it if needed.
of course
r/thisguythisguys
Use online menu pricing from same restaurant you get the receipt from. Don’t forget to add a tip! It’s tough work being a server.
Yes, and it's always a big one because you are there for work, have the funds, and want to leave a good impression with the staff for when you are there next! :)
This is great advice although I will say don’t worry too much about the pink strip. It only happens at the end of the roll so most of the receipts don’t have it and it wouldn’t be unusual if none of yours have it. If anything it would be suspicious if the pink strip was exactly the same on multiple of them. Maybeee they would think it was suspicious if they investigated it and looked through all of them but at that point you’re probably gonna be caught. They can check the restraunt menu and shit and see if stuff lines up or notice some other inconsistency somewhere unless you’re gonna spend tons of time making them all perfect
Oh yeah, I just meant on like a rare one. Everyone gets one of those eventually.
who the hell is going to keep track of if someone had a pink strip or not
It's not about keeping track. It's about lending realness so you don't arouse suspicion. Blend in, but in plain sight. Someone is going to look those over and verify expenses.
Additional tips: Google image search the city name and “restaurant receipt” to pull images of real receipts in that city as templates. Also stick to some staples like Starbucks so that you don’t need to constantly work so hard figuring out options to reach your per diem amount.
This. My work uses a 3rd party to handle expenses and they do random audits. You would 100% get caught. A quick google search is enough to see if something is amiss. But also If they aren’t sure about the receipt they’ll ask to see a copy of your credit card or bank statement. Is it worth you losing your job to get the extra $? How many days unemployed until you break even? Just take the lower amount regularly and enjoy life with good meals with the larger amount from time to time.
Cash. No way your work is auditing your personal purchases. I'd resign if my employer requested my personal bank statememts. OP sounded like he was using personal funds and not a company credit card. Really hard to audit this, and OP should write most of them to small Podunk restaurants and not big chains. Auditing this would cost the company WAYYYY more than what OP would be claiming, just saying. I'm writing this from a hotel I'm receiving per diem for, and have been personally audited by the office of the inspector general.
That’s a good point about the cash! But I work for a company with lots of employees. Those small amounts over years add up.
Don't forget some substitution errors such as %restaurant_id%, also don't forget the correct phone number.
This guy per diems.
Make sure you’re always paying in cash. Servers hate cashing out credit tips and the restaurant hates the credit fees. Paper trails are expensive.
I would contact over seas a lot. One of the things we would do is go to a supply store that sells receipts and buy a variety and a reusable/changeable ink stamp. Receipts all day
I need one of these for a doctor note. I made my own, and it was barely convincing. I was "sick" for 5 days while I took a road trip to see the eclipse. Worth it.
Just be super careful when falsifying a doctor signature that’s a felony.
I can't make it out that well, it looks like you saw Dr. Pepper?
No, Dr. Pooper, the proctologist
I mean wire fraud (which this would be) is also a felony
my doctor just charges $10 and will basically write whatever you want on it lol
Mine is $25 and it takes 2 weeks to get seen. Haven't even put a chip in my $5k deductible this year. Blue cross blue shield is basically shit healthcare until I need a million dollar procedure. Then it's great, except for I'll be almost fucking dying.
Meanwhile, Kaiser is great for just kinda checking in & maintaining if you're mostly healthy. US health care sucks.
All my labs, screens, and specialists are out of pocket. It doesn't make sense. You would think it's in their best interest to keep me healthy before my late stage ass implosion renal catastrophe.
Assuming you have a plan through your employer, it's your employer's choice to choose the $5k deductible, for significantly lower premiums. Most insurance companies (I have Blue Cross) have a variety of plans at a variety of prices. Not to say Blue Cross Blue Shield might not be shit, but it's not all their fault.
For sure. I only pay $200 for "unlimited" and dental. The $5k is reasonable if I go to the doc twice a month and really work the system. My dermatologist is $20k per year alone. They also cover viagra and Adderall.
Never seen this one. I'll take a look. Thanks!
And buy a cheap receipt printer off of ebay along with some paper and you should be good to go. They usually attach via usb so you can pop it into any pc.
This is probably the way yo go. I will do that
Don’t do it on your work computer, be smarter than that
Get one that accommodates different size paper. You don’t want all your receipts to be the same size.
get yourself a template roladex as well, dont wanna keep using the same format
Also…depending who looks at the receipts, don’t find/make receipts that would make it seem like you are unhealthy or healthy 24/7. Always need to find a balance lol
A thermal printer is definitely the way to go. A couple of roll sizes and you are golden
The company I work for deploys these to clients, so we have a ton. And it also makes sense for some of us remote workers to have these in our home to troubleshoot & get familiar with. Anyway, if it came down to it. I could probably print fake receipts pretty easy. Irony.
Or any thermal fax machine you can find garage saling
You’re in an airport. Walk to the trash near any restaurant, and grab a receipt. Give a waiter a $2 for a receipt. It’s free to print a copy.
Yeah I’d prob get thrown away receipts rather than going to the trouble of making mine
Well, you get a legitimate receipt for each place and then copy those. "I only eat at 5 places" 🤷♀️
Two months from now when coworkers complain about the new policy of Original receipts only, say "You're welcome."
Remember to use real restaurant names, addresses and information. Payroll may check these.
Good looking out on the alibi generator!
Alibisonus.com
Probably need to ensure that no one in accounting goes to the same restaurant. I travel often for work to the same place so a new receipt format would probably set off some alarm bells
Haha this is awesome.
This is gas receipts all day but yes you'll have a variety of receipts
Hot damn Got one for fake doctor notes?
If you were taking food from home with you before maybe you can do the opposite? Buy extra meals and take it home, you'll save on your groceries and as a bonus have a little more free time since you'll be cooking and shopping less?
It's defenetly something to look into.
Up your game. Sign up for rewards and get points. For inspiration: George Clooney in Up in the Air: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDgFAFQGZbI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDgFAFQGZbI)
Ask a person sitting in a restaurant for their receipt. Edit: this was my silly thought but if their credit information on there that is a giveaway. They'd need to pay cash and have no personal information on the ticket. So long as you submit a receipt from a spot near your hotel and all it lists is the restaurant information, order, and total this might work.
However, once you have that receipt you can scan and Photoshop the receipt to reflect your info. Then print it, give it a little crumple, and take a picture with your phone. Submit that picture as your receipt.
Trash cans work too
I was on a flight one time and the guy next to me was altering all of his digital receipts on his laptop. Take some adobe lessons online. If the receipt is on a website, you can right click it and select inspect. A little HTML knowledge and you can make it say whatever you want.
I really have to look into this. Thabks.
Buy the paid version of adobe. You can edit pdf’s in it. Bump all the items on the legit receipt by a couple bucks.
If you’re in the US, this is extremely easy. Check your email for a square receipt, you get those from the tip tablets at restaurants/coffee shops, if you leave your email If you or someone you trust have one , all you need after that is some basic html editing
Check litter piles in restaurant parking lots for receipts
Not a good idea. Unless they paid cash, the credit card information (including name) will be on the receipt. Try explaining that to your HR.
I actually know someone who did this. He got fired.
Lol, i did something similar, i was as consultant in the US and I didnt know anything about food stamps and I sent a receipt that was paid with those. Not sure why they didnt fire me, I guess they really needed me, i of course stopped doing that after that incident
This guy wants to fake receipts. Don't think he's too worried about consequences.
Most restaurants I've been to have a receipt that has no CC info, and a separate CC confirmation with none of the itemized info I need for reimbursement.
Yeah, over here if you pay with card you get the same receipt as you would if you paid cash, you just get an additional receipt with all the CC stuff on it.
Hmmm... not my favorite activity, but it makes sense.
Is going through trash really worth saving a few bucks?
Nope, not at all. I'm thinking of not doing it at all (false receipts).
Pretty dumb to risk a $75,000 a year job for a couple hundred dollars.
The trash receipts just give you another template is all.
Tell me you live in the US without telling me you live in the US...
Digitally altered photos can be detected, some payroll software even has it built in. Spend a little on a receipt printer, then take pictures of the altered receipts you print. Undetectable. Costs a little more and is a little more work, but it should pay for itself in no time.
Yeah, with all the money you're saving by doing this you should be able to invest a little bit in a receipt printer
Those systems screen for changes in metadata, and are easily fooled by screenshotting your final product. They can’t really fault you for uploading a “screenshot” of a receipt instead of a scanned PNG/JPG.
I have also wondered this as I rarely reach my daily meal allowance limit. I get scared that somehow the accounting department will be able to tell if it's fake or edited. Then, if they asked for proof, like from a bank statement, i would get caught and fired. My fears often keep me from committing fraud. It is tempting, though.
Yeah, really wondering why the answer here is to not eat like a king on the company dime? I’m not trying to prep and pack food when I can run a company card. And even if it’s a process to send in receipts and get reimbursed, it’s so many extra steps to fake it for what can’t be a huge payout?
I don't prep or pack. I just don't eat a lot. I'm good for probably 2 meals a day. My allowance is something like $75/day. I honestly forget because I know I don't come near it. I eat what I want, but after 3 years of road life, nothing is too appetizing anymore.
I fully get that. I myself have hit a wall where I often just do not care what I eat at any given meal. It just feels like a lot of work to get a small payout for something you’d be doing anyway. I just take the “profit” of not having to buy a meal that day.
Maybe I should have also added while I was replying to YOU, most of my comment was for OP.
No worries, I didn't take offense or anything. And you're not wrong, there is minimal payout. I think it's more just the temptation lol These last few years have given me so much perspective and really make me hate working for "the man". I have 20 years restaurant management experience and am now at the above restaurant level. To see all these upper people spending company money like it's nothing after knowing how the individual stores are squeezed for costs like labor, for example, is unsettling at best. I'll never forget the first time I sat with someone as they ordered the filet for lunch. I was just looking at him thinking how I just attended the meeting where he scrutinized the P&L of his restaurants. I don't have the conscience for corporate. I need to find a nice non-profit to work for.
I used to stay at places with kitchens on longer trips and buy groceries and bring stuff home as long as it didn’t require refrigeration. My per diem was closer to $40. If you do the cash receipt scam be sure to constantly withdraw cash regularly from your bank account so this makes sense in an audit.
> I need to find a nice non-profit to work for. While there are definitely solid and good non-profits out there to work for there are also plenty that have people just as shady as the for-profit sector.
I’m in sales, and while it does take spending money to make money in a lot of circumstances, I totally get your point. Don’t eat high off the hog if it’s just you, spend the money where it counts, buying JW Blues for the head of procurement.
I'm with you on that. Additionally, dining alone is not exactly fun. What started off as a decent dinner with drinks after checking into the hotel quickly turned into a bowl of salad, some sandwiches and a bottle of wine in the room. Did that for years despite having a Co card with no limit.
This is really the way to go. I never eat better than when I travel for work. Steak, desert, appetizers, all the things I don't buy for myself when home. My work also pays for one alcoholic beverage with dinner. You bet your ass I'm getting the $20 margarita with the high end tequila.
Endless share-ables. You never know who had to show up late, or leave early. Not everyone got an entree.
Yeah, I really dont get this, splurge while youve got a completely legitimate, completely legal, completely moral way to do so. Why bother going to all this trouble to risk losing clearly a nice job, over what will end up amounting to maybe over a grand tops, that will end up screwing you hard
I'm not even going to try and pretend that I haven't stolen from work before but definitely not a regular thing and certainly not falsifying records and committing fraud to do it.
It's never worth losing a well paying job over these types of fraud. I work in accounting for F500 and I've seen several people get fired over committing fraud in their personal expense reports in the past few years.. even over silly things such as buying gift cards and expensing them as meals.
Say you paid cash.
I've thought about that, too. Seems like it would work as long as the receipt also says cash. One I've always wondered about is the hotels. I pay all my expenses up front, and get reimbursed the following week. On weeks where I have managed my funds poorly, I've sometimes cashed in points for hotel rooms rather than paying. Which leaves me not getting reimbursed because the room was technically free. Very tempted to digitally alter those receipts.
You know you'd still get a receipt, right?
Yes. But the receipt is now the only proof. No bank statement/credit card statement as OP mentioned being worried about having to produce. Hands accounting receipt for meal. Accounting: “Hmm this seems suss. Hey OP, can you provide a credit card statement backing up these charges?” OP: “Nope, I paid in cash” End Scene.
Accounting now calls restaurant to confirm cash transaction..
You've never worked anywhere that actually reimbursed people or had an accounting department, have you? >Accounting: “Hmm this seems suss. Hey OP, can you provide a credit card statement backing up these charges?” OP: “Nope, I paid in cash” End Scene. That may work. Once. You think they're just going to take someones word for multiple cash payments with zero proof? Or maybe you've just never seen a receipt before....
[удалено]
Yes. If there is an approval process, it’ll be a person’s job to do this. It may work once, but you’ll eventually get caught, and then they’ll look at your entire history. Suddenly, you’re out of the job if you’re lucky. If you’re not lucky, you’re not only out of the job, but you’re going to be paying back every dollar that you obtained via fraud, and the case will be recommended to the police if you’ve stolen enough.
I know we use a software program. My direct boss approves mine, then it is sent for a second approval from the accounts payable department. Plus whatever checks the software may be doing. Could something fall through the cracks? Absolutely. Do I want to risk my job on it? Nah. And the tricky thing about theft/fraud/whatever you want to call it... it's a slippery slope. It doesn't take long for "extra" money to not be extra anymore, and then your budget depends on it, and you are willing to go further and further.
I'm an overthinker. I consider every worst-case scenario, and rarely any best case ones
worst case it gets picked in sampling of employee expenses by the external auditors and the fraud exposed
Some Expense Report Tools use AI tools on receipts. This seems like a good way to get fired for theft just to claim a little extra.
Don’t do this. Let them pay for your food. If they find just one item on one receipt that doesn’t make sense, they’ll audit every single one you submit and realize you’re committing fraud.
This is a silly reason to get fired. A safer way to do this, if possible while traveling go to a grocery store and buy and bunch of your normal groceries. Say “I get prepared foods etc. For meals” and just take the groceries home. You’re not pocketing the cash but you are saving on next week’s groceries.
This, I do it and my work doesn't reject it, it's still less than actual meals so they probably like me doing it anyway. If they suddenly decided they don't like it they'll just not pay it and you know it doesn't work, but no risk of being caught for it as they were actual purchases. But I'd have bought the items either way so I'm not down.
This thread is the real answers op should be looking at, no fraud but still should be honored.
I’d check company policy with this one though. My work allows us to expense prepared foods but not groceries, so worth checking before dropping cash on food and not being able to be reimbursed
This is honestly what i was curious about. Like, why not, especially if you shop at night too. Then you can also say "oh yeah, resturants were closed, but Walmart had packaged spaghetti, so that worked for me"
Or get a packaged salad for lunch the next day or some granola bars for breakfast
And you might be able to return groceries
Is it really worth it to eventually get caught and get fired for a measly sum of money? Just eat like a king!
If you don't need an itemized receipt, buy a gift card for a round number, say $40, and buy a soft drink, to make your total bill a random number $43.18, for example. Use the gift card when eating on your own time and money. Or you could probably sell them for 50 cent s on the dollar.
Good luck. In my industry i know a lot of people who get fired for things like this.
Get a receipt tablet from an office supply store
That would be a good idea, but most restaurants now have an electronic system. I haven't gotten a hand written receipt in years.
In my area, many small diners, BBQ places, and little ethnic restaurants still do handwritten receipts.
Well... yeah, I guess. But suddenly providing s bunch of them will sit of a red flag
True. You'd have to intersperse them, but it's one tool you can make use of. Just make sure the handwriting is different!
Tell people at restaurants you want them. Typically staff doesn’t give a damn and will give you all the receipts they can
I work in consulting and have to report my time and expenses as well. This seems like a sure fire way to get audit involved and get fired for falsifying expense reports. Take the per diem at the non-receipt amount.
Forward Uber eats recipes to yourself . Edit it and send to yourself. Go to places that email a receipt and again forward to your self and edit in message . Snip and copy to save .
ask if you can spend it on groceries instead and still make your own lunches.
Just check the trash cans and almost any restaurant and you’ll find a ton of receipts.
I know someone who did this. He got fired and prosecuted. Had to pay over $17,000 in penalties and fines. Wife divorced him. Lost his house....for being a dishonest shithead!!!!!!! Character.....It's something you have, not something you are!
Did you forget what sub you are in? 🤪
Just go eat someplace one day and then tell them that you eat at the same place and order the same thing every day and use Photoshop to change the date on the receipt .
Buy a thermal printer and just print your own at home.
Are you allowed to use food delivery services? Or order groceries from Amazon to your hotel? Place an order and immediately cancel it it will give you enough time to screenshot the receipt. Or you could order something from Amazon with food that's easy to return, like a 12 pack of soda or something.
Get a legit meal at a few different restaraunts, pay cash. Scan them several times in slightly different orientation. Adjust the date on the PDF.
Don't do the fake receipt thing. These receipts are used to pay you back, HOWEVER, they are used if they get an audit. If you get caught in this audit you could be charged in federal court with fraud.
Lmao dude are you fr going to jeopardize your career and expose yourself to felony level charges to skim a benjamin a day traveling? When you could just eat well on the company dime? I know it's ULPT but this is the definition of "not worth"
I had a coworker make fake receipts (he was spending the money on golfing) but got caught because other employees went to the same restaurant and this one guy's receipts were different. The big chains all have consistent receipt layouts and fonts, etc. FYI you're committing fraud submitting fake receipts and if caught will be up shit creek.
This is unethical life pro tips not illegal. That would be fraud and if you get caught you’ll be fired
i would try going to a place that has some younger people serving and asking them if they could print out receipts for you. if it were me back then, i’d do it for $10
Fraud is different than unethical, it’s illegal
This should be illegal life tips. Good luck commiting fraud.
Just be aware as you're committing fraud your company can legally and monetarily go after you for this after you get caught.
Have sex with the owner, or their spouse then steal everything. Food for life
Order up sometimes and take the leftovers to go.
I use my meal allocation to buy groceries for meal prep.
My employer would do $100/day for meals including groceries. They would explain that it’s a limit and not a challenge. It’s shockingly difficult to spend that much per day on food. Also, eating out three meals a day for a month gets exhausting (I’ll be so happy to never step into a Cheesecake Factory again). My coworker would go to Whole Foods, buy 10 frozen pizzas then, while standing at the register, return them all for a gift card. He’d then submit the pizza receipt and have groceries covered for months. It’s a good thing he had a way to pay for groceries because corporate found out and canned him.
Go get a drink at the bar at a restaurant and check the waste baskets by the point of sale terminals at the servers use. They will be full of receipts from that day from all of their tables that have already paid and left. They just get thrown away.
go to any fast food chain and just pick few receipts from the tables or near trash
Have you asked if you can expense $/month on groceries instead?
Go take a regular meal at a restaurant, ask for a receipt, then leave without paying
Walk into a restaurant and say "hey, i'm allowed to expense up to $X today, got any recepits close to that?"
When I had daily allowance I used to just go buy groceries up to the daily limit and turned those receipts in. Never had an issue and had plenty of food to bring home with me.
Do you have family / friends you can ask for receipts?
Take people out to lunch. At a Cafe or food court. Tell them you'll buy their food, but they have to pay you half the total price. Keep the receipt, they eat the purchased meal, you sit down and rat your home brought food.
Can you use doordash/ grubhub / whatever? If so, just view your receipt on the web and use inspect element to change anything you want.
Restaurant trash. If anyone asks tell them you threw out your receipt accidentally. They’ll be happy to help
You can easily edit PDF / emailed receipts from Grubhub/Uber eats .. assuming you have a few “staples” you frequently order to the hotel or for pickup it shouldn’t raise any flags
You need an illicit receipt/photoshop service. You might try fiver or the like and ask if they can do receipts. Eventually one of them will say yes.
You can order stuff from Uber Eats and then change the email receipt that you get from them
You could make your own LLC, submit your own receipts, and get paid that way by your company.
Most places use Square (or similar Point of Sales software) that will have an option to email you a receipt. Get that emailed receipt and do some basic HTML editing
Befriend a server or restaurant owner.
Ask people at the bar for theirs.
Shit like this is why I still love the internet
Recommend you take a hit up front to get a small item from restaurants you could reasonably visit for breakfast lunch and dinner on a trip. Like get a coffee at a diner and actual lunch at a cafe and actual dinner at Vietnamese. Take a photo of the menu. Now you have receipts and legit items to add. In the oddball case that it ever gets reviewed. Make sure your co workers see you pay in cash when you legit go out. Finally, be an asshole if anyone asks you how and why you eat so much on travel but always under per diem. (“Because I know how to stay under budget, unlike some PMs around here.”)
People often leave their receipts on the table when they leave. Go around collecting them.
Go to a stationary store they sell guest receipt books then get a date stamper and different color ink pads. You are in business my friend. My company did the same years ago. I had/have at least 10 books
Dumpster dive and or search the parking lots. Other then that there are receipts making apps out there. Technically you just need one and the ability to edit it honestly.
Become a member of r/serverlife and just take the receipts they post and doctor them up :)
Is buying a restaurant gift card with your meal an option?
Nice
Have friends give you their receipts from restaurants.or dumpster dive outside restaurants. Find a server friend to give you left behind receipts
Go to restaurant and offer to pay random people's bills in exchange for cash?
Can you spend it on gift cards?
Easiest is to go to a restaurant that offers emailed receipts like Panera. Then you can print to PDF and edit the document. You'll need to constantly check prices to see if they've gone up or down
Go buy a Sharp cash register at Sam’s and program in any restaurant name you want.
Reading some of the fake receipt replies, someone should make a website (maybe it’s out there or someone said this in these comments…) for this. Maybe it allows you to input the city, date, and amounts, and the site gives you a receipt for what you need, with plenty of variety so people don’t have to build their own templates. A good coder could probably make the receipts, menu items, etc. match real places in the city you need. This feels like a site that people could contribute to in an open-source kind of way, and make it a robust per-diem-scheme thing. Someone get on this!
Go to a few chains and get receipts so you know the format and then DIY. But make sure you scrunch them up, fold them etc THEN photocopy them.
I used to work with a guy who was sacked for forging receipts. Tread carefully.
How serious are they about checking up on you, cause i actually run a restaurant, i can send you receipts, they'd be genuine receipts, but my restaurant is the only one and it's in MO
Just go enjoy the meals.
Why not just buy a gift card for the amount you are allotted for a grocery store. This way you get the full amount for meals and can use it wherever you want.
Pretty sure this is not just unethical but illegal. Not sure if this would fall under fraud or embezzlement but you would 100% get fired, forced to repay the money, and possibly face criminal charges. And finding the next job would be a challenge with that on your record I would just use the funds for what it is intended and just eat out and save on groceries.
I got legit receipt fonts and templates. Psd. Files for photoshop. Holler
This is fraud. Don’t do it. BUT if you were going to do it, get a square register and a thermal receipt printer. You can print whatever receipt you want with whatever business name and logo you want with zero photoshop experience.
Order Uber eats a couple times to have some legitimate places, and then just edit the email receipt for new days / times / items / etc? As long as your firm accepts email receipts / screenshots from the app.. But in 2024, not sure why they wouldn't haha
Also, just one thing to keep in mind - a banker from wells Fargo (I think?) was fired because he expensed two meals instead of one, even though they were under budget. The firm said it's policy is only for his own meal, and cannot cover any additional. So just be aware that firms are potentially cracking down on this, and might not be worth the hassle
Just go by some restaurants pick em up off the tables.
You gotta quit going to dan flashes