Police in Newport, Oregon are warning the public and local businesses about counterfeit currency that may begin circulating in the community after $1 million in counterfeit currency was stolen from a car on Thursday.
In a statement on Facebook, the Newport Police Department said officers responded to a report of a car break-in. Upon arrival, the owner of the vehicle reported that $1 million in “fake prop/movie money” was among the stolen items.
“The prop/movie money was in denominations of $10, $20, and $100. Although the “money” was clearly marked “For Motion Picture Use Only” and “Copy”, the prop/movie money is very similar to real US currency and similar prop/movie money has created problems for local businesses in the past,” the department said.
Police also said they wanted to “remind everyone to be diligent, particularly in light of this theft, in the correct identification of any currency you take. Besides the obvious printed warning that currency is only Intended for movie use, it will also feel different from genuine U.S. currency.”
Newsweek contacted the Newport Police Department to see if there were any updates regarding their investigation into the robbery, but did not receive a response before publication Saturday evening.
In another incident in September, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Philadelphia seized more than $6.5 million in counterfeit currency from Russia.
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In a statement at the time, Customs and Border Protection said the currency was “marked as incidental money – which federal law considers counterfeit money – but the bills looked too much like currency. authentic American”.
“The United States imposes legal restrictions on the reproduction of banknote images and those who attempt to pass off these fictitious notes as legal tender face serious consequences under United States law,” the statement said. .
In another incident involving counterfeit money, two Tennessee women were caught using a counterfeit million dollar bill. The incident occurred at a Dollar General store and an employee identified the currency as counterfeit. Both men claimed they were unaware they were using counterfeit money and were not charged with a crime, despite being prohibited from returning to the store.
In 2019, police in Scranton, Pennsylvania said they were looking for a man who allegedly tried to use a counterfeit million dollar bill to buy an iPhone, then attacked a friend of the seller when he faced about this.
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