South Jersey stores tricked by fake ‘movie money’ passed as real cash

💲 Fake movie prop money is being passed off as real cash in South Jersey stores

💲 Bills look authentic but say “motion picture purposes”

💲 Police urge businesses to “Read, Repeat, Report” when handling cash transactions

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP — Prop money is being passed off as the real thing at stores in South Jersey.

Gloucester Township police say there have been several cases of the paper currency used in movie and television productions being used to make purchases at retail locations. The bills look very similar to actual bills including its texture and size.

Part of the issue is that cashiers do not randomly run smaller denominations through security measures. A counterfeit pen or a detector light will easily pick up that the bill is not real.

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Why movie prop money is fooling cashiers

Cashiers are also not doing visual checks of the bills they receive  and noticing that the bills include the words “motion picture purposes" and the words "this bill is not legal. It is to be used for motion pictures." The phrase "In God we trust" and the word "dollars" are also missing.

Police suggest that if you own a business and/ or work as a cashier, utilize the Three "R's" when receiving currency:

💲Read The Bill: check the wording, check for security features like watermarks and security threads that are printed or embedded into the paper.
💲Repeat the process for every bill you receive.
💲Report any suspected counterfeit currency or movie money being passed as real currency to the Police.

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