SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office is investigating cases where people paid for vehicles using fake movie money.
A spokesperson from the sheriff’s office said people posted cars for sale, and at the exchange, the buyer paid for the car using some real money and some counterfeit bills marked with “FOR MOTION PICTURE USE ONLY.”
The sheriff’s office did not say how many cars were paid for using movie money.
The sheriff’s office encouraged buyers and sellers to use other forms of payments such as money orders or cashier’s checks to ensure safe payment.
Anyone who was scammed by someone using counterfeit bills should contact law enforcement.
Nancy Crawford with the Better Business Bureau said her agency doesn’t often hear about counterfeit bills in this area, but says if some have been reported there are likely more out there.
Area car dealers say they train their employees to spot fake cash.
“When someone’s paying cash for a car we verify their identity, we take our counterfeit pen to make sure none of the money is counterfeit,” said Kenny Drew with Boss Auto.
You can purchase a counterfeit pen to make sure cash is real. You just run the pen across the bill, and it shows yellow if the bill is good. A black line means it’s a fake.
You should also look for a watermark and pay attention to how the money feels.
