A clerk was on duty behind a cage of bulletproof glass. Then, just before 4:30 p.m., investigators say a man dressed in what appeared to be a UPS uniform walked in carrying a package.
"He approaches the clerk and says, 'I have a package for you,'" Patrick Doherty of the Philadelphia Police Department said.
To the clerk, at least, the man appeared to be legit, but he would turn out to be everything but.
"The clerk comes around, opens up the security door, 2 additional males appear, one has a gun, and they force the clerk back into the store," Doherty said.
The clerk could not believe what was happening. UPS deliverymen are not known to carry guns and have accomplices, but instead of getting a package, the check cashing agency was being robbed.
The thieves got away with $11,000.
The hi-tech security measures with the bullet proof cage and bullet proof security doors were all rendered useless by a man posing as UPS deliveryman:
The thieves also tried to run off with what they thought was the tape from the surveillance system, but what they didn't know is that there was backup rolling at the company's security center in Florida.
With the men still on the loose, police are putting out a warning to other area businesses:
"Again, if you don't recognize your delivery driver, ask to see some identification or ask them to pull the truck up in front of the store so you can look at and see that, 'Yes, there is a truck out there, a Federal Express or UPS truck," Doherty said.
The clerk was not injured.
Investigators say at this point they have no reason to believe that the three men are the same one's responsible for a rash of other holdups in the past week in the city or a TD Bank in Upper Darby.
