A man in Tacoma who runs a Christmas tree lot to raise money for his charity is out around $500 because a scammer allegedly pretended to be a lot employee, selling trees at a deep discount and pocketing the cash. But while he’s unhappy about the loss, he seems to have mixed feelings about the scammer.

“Honestly, I was kind of impressed,” he tells KOMO-TV. “I know she’s a criminal, but that’s amazing; she sold nine trees!”

The owner says that the woman apparently posed as an employee and, managing to avoid the lot’s security cameras, sold the trees, which go for as much as $95, to customers before fleeing with all the money she’d made.

“So it was sad to see someone would come and not only take advantage of what we were doing, but be so brazen, so bold about it,” explains the owner.

But at least he’s maintained his sense of humor.

“I actually thought… If she gave us the money back, I would pay her a commission and say, ‘Maybe you wanna do that more,” he tells KOMO, before adding, “I’m kidding.”

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