Fraud alert: Movie prop money popping up in Kansas City area, police warn

Police in Independence and Olathe are urging people and businesses to slow down and take a close look at the money when accepting cash for purchases.

The two police departments have received several reports of fake movie prop money being passed as real bills.

At least three business along Noland Road in Independence recently have fallen victim and accepted the cinema prop money, which closely resembles actual money, according Independence police.

The problem also has hit Olathe businesses and individuals too.

“We first started seeing the motion picture money back in mid-May or late April,” said Olathe police Detective Brian Peters. “One of our liquor stores is the first one that I can recall. They had received three of these $100 bills for purchases of alcohol.”

Two of the three people who used the bills have been identified and charged, and warrants are out for them, Peters said.

“The bills look really good on the front except for the fact it says on the upper right-hand part of the bills that this is for ‘Motion Picture Use Only,’ ” he said.

Since then, the prop money has been used for purchases at several different locations and for private sales through Craigslist and Letgo online classified ads.

“My suggestion to people is slow down, look at the bill, read what’s on the bill,” Peters said. “Just take the extra time to make sure you are getting what you’re getting.”

You can also go to the U.S. Currency website to learn how to spot fake money.

While the prop money looks real, the paper it’s printed on doesn’t feel like cloth like real bills. Instead, it feels like heavy paper.

It’s also missing the security thread, the 3-D security ribbon, color shifting ink and the watermark that real $100 bills have.

Peters spoke with a man on Friday who found movie prop money among a stack of $100 bills he had received for services he provided.

The prop money can be purchased on the internet. Peters has seen them as cheap as 24 cents for a $100 bill.

It’s not illegal to have prop money. It’s when you present the bill as real money that you have committed a crime. In Kansas, it’s forgery, which is a felony.

If you fall victim and accept fake money, you should fill out a police report and include where you think you received the bill, Peters said.

If you catch someone trying to use fake money, tell the person the money isn’t real. Peters suggested that you don’t try to detain the person. Rather gather as good a description of the person as possible.

If the person doesn’t demand the fake money back, secure it by placing it in an envelop or a plastic bag so that it could be sent to a crime lab for fingerprint testing.

“Hopefully if we get everybody educated and the awareness level goes up, we will start to see a decline in bills,” Peters said. “Folks aren’t trying to conceal that it’s motion picture money. They are just walking right in and handing it to the clerks and to people.”

This story was originally published November 2, 2016 at 11:16 AM with the headline "Fraud alert: Movie prop money popping up in Kansas City area, police warn."