I got a counterfeit bill - at KROGERS!

[Robinrs]

And was almost ARRESTED at Walmart!!

Short story, I never carry cash but I needed cash to give to my son when I send him to the barber shop. I went to Kroger that morning and got $20 cash back on my debit card, then promptly asked for 2 tens because I had to only give him $10 for the haircut.

I dropped him off at the barber and as usual, went to the connect WalMart to browse and shop. I only got a few things and went to the 20 or less register and gave her the other 10 dollar bill to pay for my goods.

She held it up to the light and walked away. I didn't think about it, just thought she had to check something.

Then a security guard and a uniformed police officer come over to me and tell me the bill is fake. I'm in shock!! They take me to the side where another woman was in handcuffs!! I immediately told them I just got the bills from Kroger and showed them my receipt.

The officer gave me her card and told me to take it up with Kroger. Needless to say EVERY eye in WalMart was on the lady with the fake bill!! I'm like If I wanted to fake a bill WHY TEN AND WHY WALMART???

But I digress. I got my newly coiffed kid and hauled back to Kroger only to be told they needed the bill. I didn't have the bill because it was confiscated at Walmart. I called the police officer and she told she'd look into the issue.

Nothing yet and this was Sunday. I called the corp office at Kroger and the police officer twice. No one has gotten back to me.

I'm posting this as a warning. This has been a problem everywhere so please, check your bills. The cops showed me the difference but I don't really see it unless I'm really looking for it.

 

[Planogirl]

So what do we look for? I'm glad that you weren't arrested. What a shock!

 

[ENSOCK]

Sadly you are out $10.00. Once you leave there is no proving that the bill came from Kroger or whereever. So neither Kroger nor Walmart are going to give you the money. It is really sad that people make fake bills, if they are going to put that much time and enegry into something...get a real job!

 

[reginaastralis]

We've been having a pretty big problem with counterfeit bills at my job, I am a server. People are using smaller bills, because everyone checks large bills ($50's, $100's) ... but rarely check small bills. It used to be someone would pay for a small purchase with a $100 that was fake, and then they made off with a large amount of real money.

However, since people are actually looking at those bills now, they are using small bills because people take them without even thinking about it. Also, they are changing one's to bigger bills so they pass the pen test, but they don't pass the other security features.

I'm so sorry this happened to you.

 

[Meandyou]

What do you look for on the bills? I will have to find someone to show me here. How frustrating that must have been.

 

[Gina]

That's horrible!! And I too would love to know what we're supposed to be looking for on bills... Unless it looked like Monopoly money, I don't think I'd ever notice a difference.

 

[DisneyNutMic]

I worked as a bank teller many moons ago. The paper will generally feel different. There should be water marks in the bill as well. I don't know all of the security features of the new bills though so I can't tell you where they are or what they are.

 

[ENSOCK]

You can look at the bill in the light and there is a strip embedded into each bill that states the amount. If the strip is missing or states a different amount then it is a bad bill. I work at a bank and we use a pen that turns black on a bad bill. But now they are washing a one and changing it to a $100.00 so the pen does not pick up a bad bill.
Also, you can normally feel something is not right with a bill. If you feel something is off then do the light thing or just ask for a different bill.

 

[Local_Girl]

What a shock! Sorry that happened to you. My next stop would be to pick up one of those pens that detects counterfeits and I'd be using that on every larger bill I get...not very practical, but sheesh! And now you're out $10...

 

[Dis_Dreamin]

What do you look for on the bills? I will have to find someone to show me here. How frustrating that must have been.

You can check out the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing website to learn more about the different security features within all bills...

U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing

 

[phorsenuf]

I'm surprised the Walmart clerk noticed. Many places don't check the smaller bills. Something prompted her to hold it up. Didn't you notice anything strange about it?

 

[tlbwriter]

I'm like If I wanted to fake a bill WHY TEN AND WHY WALMART???

Actually, a $10 bill at Walmart is the perfect opportunity. Counterfeiters generally produce smaller bills (10s or 20s) because people are more suspicious of larger denominations. And Walmart is the perfect place to use one, because they're busy enough that the checkers don't have time to scrutinize each bill.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

My next stop would be to pick up one of those pens that detects counterfeits and I'd be using that on every larger bill I get

When I worked in a bank 5 years ago, they were already warning that the pens aren't reliable. The counterfeiters can use regular bills as the starting point or add the chemical that the pen is reacting with.

I'm surprised the Walmart clerk noticed.

I'm not! People who work with a lot of cash will feel when something isn't right with a bill. It always amazed me when a teller caught one - it was never by sight.

 

[Ava]

You can look at the bill in the light and there is a strip embedded into each bill that states the amount. If the strip is missing or states a different amount then it is a bad bill.

When I was a kid we thought it was fun/cool to remove those strips from bills. It was like a game to see if we could get it out in one piece. I never had a problem using any bill that I'd taken the security strip out of, but obviously in hindsight it was a really dumb thing to do.

 

[marmalade]

We used to do the same thing as kids. And if I remember correctly it was our parents who taught us how to do it.

How scary, I will be checking my bills from now on.

 

[Mrs. Charming]

I'm not suprised. My mom got a fake bill from her BANK once! She was out the money and everything.

 

[Mom_Rides]

I'm sorry it happened to you. I'm sure that the cashier at Walmart was able to feel that something was not right with the bill. Even if the bill was a washed bill (like a $1 bill washed out and then reprinted to be a $10 or whatever) if you work with money all the time, you can feel the difference. Perhaps they've had other issues and have been told to look for the watermark and/or strip in each bill.

I've worked in banking for over 15 years and have seen it all as far as counterfeit. I wouldn't advise buying a counterfeit pen though. If the bill is a washed bill, it won't work but even more important, if the bill touches any other paper, it's unreliable at that point.

 

[elgerber]

This just happened to a woman in my office, she got a $10 bill in change from our cafeteria. When she went to spend it at a sub shop, they looked at it and told her it was counterfeit.

 

[abcboys]

12 years ago I was working as a cashier at a hardware store and a man came in and gave me a fake $100 bill. I knew right away something felt off with it so I handed it to my coworker saying doesn't this feel weird and he's like I guess and hands it back to me. I was kind of shy and didn't know what to do and the manager was at the back of the store. The man told me he had just gotten it from the bank. I just had a feeling it was a fake but was too chicken to say anything so dummy me hands him back his change (which was like $80-90 cash) and he leaves. I had handed it to my coworker thinking he would say something but he didn't but as soon as the guy leaves I pull it back out of the drawer saying something is not right about this. So we call the police in and yep its a fake. I called my dad right away who has a small business a few blocks down to tell him and he said hold on I think we got a $100 a while ago and yep, his employee had also taken in a fake $100. All in all in this small town he hit up 4 businesses and I'm the only one that noticed anything. I'm still mad at myself that I didn't call him on it and call the police in while he was still there.

It was a pretty big deal I had to have someone sketch the guy what he looked like and a few months later they brought some pictures by of men and I had to point to see if one of the guys was one that was in the store and I pointed him out. I never did hear if they caught the guy or what happened to him after that.

 

[Robinrs]

The bill actually looked washed out, nothing struck me as being out of place, though. I just thought it was old looking. They showed me what to look for but I was so upset I didn't pay much attention. I just wanted to get back to Kroger!

It could've been way worse so I don't get too upset about it. It's just the idea that I was a victim, so to speak, and they were treating me like I was the perp!