NEW YORK—More fake cash used in Hollywood films are circulating as real ones this holiday season, and shoppers are being encouraged to learn how to spot them.
“All of a sudden, there’s a new kind of counterfeit money that’s being used, because online sellers are selling fake Hollywood money,” warned Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) at a press conference in his New York City office on Dec. 6.
“There’s a 25% surge in movie money passed off as the real thing, according to the Secret Service which is the federal agency in charge of preventing counterfeiting,” said Schumer.
These bills weren’t meant to be used for counterfeit, Schumer said.
Instead, people buy them as gag gifts or for counting practice through online retailers like Amazon or eBay. But it’s being used “in record amounts as counterfeit money,” according to Schumer, because “it’s a lot easier to get it and it’s a lot more real looking.”
For example, people can buy 100 of these fake $100 bills for $14.98 on Amazon. Except for the “copy” letters on the top left corner, the bills look exactly like real ones.
The U.S. Secret Service recently launched a campaign called “Operation Quick Glance” to warn people against the rise of fake movie money. They urge consumers and retailers to take a quick glance at the cash they received, to look for “motion picture only,” “replica,” or any foreign characters in the writing.
This holiday season the Secret Service wants you to know your money!
Operation Quick Glance focuses on easily detected counterfeit, like the ones in this video. Get to know your money: https://t.co/TNe6dijZCV pic.twitter.com/LsOQ45DoAt
— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) November 27, 2019
Besides sounding the alarm about the rise of fake “movie money,” Schumer also wrote a public letter to the Internet Association, a trade group that represents online retailers, to urge them to take action.
“The Internet Association should work with the Secret Service and stop people from selling,” Schumer said.
According to the Secret Service warning, of the over $100 million in counterfeit money that was circulated in 2018, 12 percent was fake movie money or notes with foreign characters on them.
