HAMMOND — A woman posing as a Dollar General manager stole nearly $1,000 from a store's account after "helping" a checkout clerk process a payment with card typically used to withdraw funds from an automated teller machine.

The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office said Friday the woman went into a store on Wardline Road and approached the cashier with a few small items and an ATM-style card. When the cashier said she didn't know how to process the payment, the woman said she was a manager at a different Dollar General store and walked her through the process.

Rather than remove money from the account linked to the card, two transactions on Dec. 3 actually took money from the Dollar General, Sheriff Gerald Sticker said. The agency released a photo of the woman who is sought.

Deputies say a similar scam worked successfully at five other stores in the area, and that thousands of dollars were taken.

The agency's organized retail crime unit can be reached at 985-345-6150.