Florida law enforcement officials are raising the alarm after multiple incidents of people attempting to use counterfeit money—including movie prop bills—as real currency. Authorities are also offering tips to help spot the fakes.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office shared an image of a $100 bill featuring Benjamin Franklin, pointing out unusual markings that distinguish it from legitimate currency. “The $100 bills are marked as fake, stating they are to be used only in making motion pictures, but they may look accurate at a casual glance,” the office explained on Facebook.
While the font closely resembles that of real U.S. bills, these prop notes clearly display phrases like “FOR MOTION PICTURE PURPOSES,” “THIS IS NOT LEGAL TENDER,” and “PROP MOVIE MONEY.”
Key West police also reported similar incidents involving $20 bills featuring Andrew Jackson, which appeared altered with a smirking expression. “Check your twenties! Some movie prop bills have made it into circulation! Though they’re marked ‘for motion picture purposes,’ they can still fool you. And if Andrew Jackson is smirking, that’s another clear giveaway!” the department posted on Facebook.
The warnings come after a local businessman discovered a fake bill in his cash register and requested that police alert the community. Younger cashiers, in particular, have struggled to distinguish real from fake bills. In one case, a Florida frozen yogurt shop employee mistakenly marked genuine bills as fake with a Sharpie.
The issue isn’t confined to Florida. In Missouri, a diner attempted to pay with a novelty $1,000 bill—not a denomination issued by the U.S. government. The note turned out to be Chinese “ancestor money,” typically burned in post-mortem rituals.
In 2019, New York Senator Chuck Schumer also warned that counterfeit “funny money” was becoming a major problem for retailers. “This problem is definitely rated R, because it’s getting very, very bad,” Schumer said. “It shouldn’t be ‘Mission Impossible’ to prevent these fake funds from being passed off as the real thing.”