Garage sales tempt everyone, eventually. There's the chance to pick up real bargains in your neighbor's cast-offs, and once in a while make a real score -- a lamp the seller doesn't recognize as a treasure that will net major bucks on eBay, for instance.
Would the real Andrew Jackson please stand up? (Photo: WDIV)
But sometimes it goes the other way. A seller in Royal Oak was scammed by someone who apparently passed counterfeit bills, and not just any hot paper, but prop movie clearly marked as such.
At a glance, you wouldn't notice "copy money" or "movie prop money" where "federal reserve note" or "United States of America" would normally be, but at a busy garage sale, you could easily be fooled.
WDIV's Hank Winchester reports it's happening all over Metro Detroit:
A Royal Oak resident reached out to Help Me Hank about a problem that police say is happening all over.
“We were cashing out at the end of the weekend, and I noticed that some of the money felt kinda funny,” said Julie Bell describing the fake money given to her mother at their garage sale.
... The customer allegedly exchanged fake $5s and $20s for the garage sale goods and folded the money when handing it to Bell.
Movie prop money is a whole showbiz industry, a quick Google reveals. When a TV gangster opens a briefcase to show the payoff to the boss, he doesn't really have $100,000 in there. It would be insanely risky to the production, and when there's a company willing to sell you realistic-looking fake stacks, it's the safer option.
But movie money can't be too realistic, which is why it's altered significantly. (Notice there aren't many closeups of the dough.)
Don't be distracted when wheeling and dealing for your old clothes. Police say it's happening all over.
