Note: we are republishing this story, which originally made the news in October 2015.

A Roanoke, Virginia, woman was outraged to discover that a waitress at a restaurant she visited stole money from her in the form of a forged tip.

Whitney Anderson took to Facebook to share her story, which quickly went viral.

So last night my husband and I ate at Abuelo’s in Roanoke. We tipped $10 on 45 and made it $55.40 and I signed my name. I didn’t take the blank customer copy out of the book. Today I checked my bank account and saw where we had been charged 65.40 so I called the manager and he said that’s what we wrote. I drove out there and demanded to see the receipt.

So the waitress trashed my receipt (the merchant copy) and filled out the customer copy and forged a signature that doesn’t even look like my name. I mean seriously. She could have at least tried to sign my last name anderson.

I called corporate and they said they will get back with me in less than 10 business days and the manager just said he’d refund my $10 she stole in less than 10 business days. It’s not just about $10 is the fact that this is fraud and theft!

I have been serving for 11 years now and so many people leave that blank copy of the receipt and it’s never crossed my mind to fill it out and forge their signature! I’m appalled that this place is not doing anything about it and allowing someone so dishonest to handle money and people’s credit cards.

The police are involved now. I mean, who knows how long she’s been doing this to people that probably don’t check their bank accounts regularly.
Anderson felt as if the forged receipt was the same as credit card fraud, according to WSLS.

“It was almost a 25 [percent] tip and then they go behind you and fraudulently sign a name to a credit card receipt,” she said. “I don’t feel that’s any different than someone taking your debit card.”

Restaurant managers apologized to Anderson over the phone and offered to refund “the entire value” of her bill.

Sources: Bitchy Waiter/Facebook, WSLS