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Motion Picture Money Scam
Motion Picture Money Vs Real Money Images

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The Lake Placid Police Department posted this warning on its Facebook page Friday, Sept. 25 about prop money from the motion picture industry being used as real currency at one business in the village.(News photo — Andy Flynn)

LAKE PLACID — Something was wrong in the cash register at one local business last week. Funny money. Counterfeit bills. But not ones made in a back room somewhere. These bills were made for the film industry — or simply sold online at Amazon or eBay. It’s known as prop money.

One business notified the Lake Placid Police Department on Friday, Sept. 25 about having some prop money passed along as real currency, according to Sgt. Chuck Dobson. So the police posted a partial $20 bill on Facebook.

“We just put that Facebook post out there to see if there are more possibly floating around the community and to give people a heads up that some of these have turned up in Lake Placid,” Dobson said Monday, Sept. 28.

The police received some feedback on Facebook but not enough information to lead to a suspect at this time, Dobson said.

The complaint was filed by only one business. Dobson would not reveal the name of the business or the street where it is located.

“Then you’d know who it is,” he said.

The police collected denominations of $5, $10 and $20 bills. On the top of the bills — above the heads of Abraham Lincoln, Alexander Hamilton and Andrew Jackson — are the words “FOR MOTION PICTURE USE ONLY” where a real bill would say “FEDERAL RESERVE NOTE.”

The Lake Placid Police Department receives around one to two counterfeit bill complaints a year, according to Dobson.

“But in recent memory, this is probably the first time we’ve ever had motion picture currency reported to us as being circulated,” he said. “Usually, it’s actual counterfeit bills.”

The image of a partial $20 bill posted on the police department’s Facebook page was actually one of the bills that was confiscated. Dobson said it’s relatively convincing when looking at it quickly. Upon closer inspection, it’s clearly fake money.

“The other way they can tell it’s not real currency is the feel,” he said. “It doesn’t feel like real money.”

Passing prop money as real currency at businesses is nothing new, but it does seem to be a growing trend, according to a report in the June 2019 issue of Atlantic magazine.

https://talentyellow.amebaownd.com/posts/23087148. “In the past few years, thanks to new technology, the cost of making fake money has plummeted,” the Atlantic reported. “Shady merchants have in turn begun selling what they describe as ‘prop money’ — but with little regard for the laws and customs governing movie money.”

Two comments on the Lake Placid Police Department’s Facebook post mentioned recent cases.

“This just happened about a month ago with a $100 at my place of employment,” wrote Jamie Bennett, whose profile says she’s from Colton and currently lives in New York City.

The Cornell University Division of Financial Affairs gives advice to cashiers on how they can detect counterfeit money.

– Feel the texture of the bill. People who handle money many times, such as cashiers, can identify a lower-quality fake bill instantly just by touching it.

– Compare the bill with another of the same denomination and series. If the bill feels all right, or if you are a little suspicious but unsure, hold the bill side by side with another bill.

– Notice the relative flatness and lack of detail on the fake bill. Look carefully at the printing quality. Real U.S. bills are printed using techniques that regular offset printing and digital printing (the most popular tools for all but the most sophisticated counterfeiters) cannot replicate.

– Look for colored fibers in the paper. All U.S. bills have tiny red and blue fibers embedded in the paper.

Motion Picture Money Scam

– Examine the serial numbers. Make sure that the serial numbers on a bill match, and look at them carefully.

– Look for security features in all denominations, except the $1 and $2.

For more specifics tips, download the PDF at https://www.dfa.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/detect-counterfeit.pdf.

Motion Picture Money Vs Real Money Images

Spotting prop money is easy. It will say “FOR MOTION PICTURE USE ONLY” at the top.