Two credit card fraudsters have been caught swindling a bistro out of £425 over a hot chocolate. 

The crooks used a card machine to change the £4.25 cost to £425 before paying with a stolen card at Just Be Bistro in Lockerbie, south-west Scotland, on September 15.

When staff noticed the incorrect amount had been charged, the fraudsters used a different card to steal the staggering sum of money with a refund.

Owner Ryan Johnstone said he only discovered he had fallen victim to fraud when the owner of the stolen credit card used to pay initiated a chargeback on October 3.

'We're not bothered about the money, just being stung like that has really p***ed me off,' the 36-year-old said. 

'I knew nothing until October 3 when our card machine provider contacted me and said somebody had initiated a chargeback.' 

CCTV footage shared on Facebook showed the two men wearing backpacks enter the cafe at 1.20pm and order a £4.25 hot chocolate.

They bombarded staff with questions about the cakes on the counter and asked for menus while one of the fraudsters took the card machine and changed the amount charged to £425.

The man then asked for a copy of the receipt and waited for staff to realise their 'mistake' after which the ginger-haired thief kept talking so as not to raise suspicions. 

'Is there gold flakes in that hot chocolate?' he brazenly asked the barista pouring the drink into a takeaway cup.

Meanwhile his accomplice stood awkwardly flicking through the menu and said that he couldn't eat at the cafe because the food wasn't gluten-free. 

But, unbeknownst to staff, a different card was put into the card terminal and £425 was stolen when the refund was issued.

After the barista gave them the hot chocolate, the men lingered in the cafe and asked for extra sugar to add to the drink before they left.

Mr Johnstone's sister and manager of the bistro Tracey Sanger said the fraudsters violated the staff's trust.

'I was in the kitchen at the time and I only knew what had happened from the girls who came up to me and said "I've charged someone £425 for a hot chocolate",' she said.   

'We laughed about it and didn't realise that we had been fraudulently hit. We didn't think anything of it.'

The 47-year-old continued: 'Obviously we were all shocked and it was quite scary. The girls were violated and so was their trust. It makes you think.'

Mr Johnstone said that the two men, who are known to Hampshire Police, were well practised and 'knew what they were doing'.

'The girls behind the counter didn't know anything of course and I don't blame them for what happened.'

He added that September 15 was the one-year anniversary of owning the cafe on Lockerbie high street.

'We had celebration balloons up and it was busy inside so it was a good day to hit us.'

A Police Scotland spokesman said: 'On Saturday, 3 October, 2026, we received a report of fraud which happened at a premises on High Street in Lockerbie on Tuesday, 15 September. Enquiries are at an early stage.'

Hampshire Police have been approached for comment.

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