PLAINFIELD TWP, Mich. -- Employees at some businesses in Grand Rapids said that someone used fake $100 dollar bills to pay for stuff this week. It was only after they took the money did they realized the bills were fake.
Workers at Taco Boy on Plainfield Avenue said that on Monday evening, a woman who appeared nervous used a $100 dollar bill to pay. A quick check with a counterfeit pen showed the bill was real. However, it turns out that after she took off, the ink also started to come off.
"She walked in, she was real jittery. She came, she ordered two tostada deluxe, which came up to like $5 dollars," said cashier Phaniece Bouie.
Phaniece Bouie said that while working her shift at the Taco Boy on Plainfield Ave. on Monday evening, the woman paid with the suspicious bill. She showed it to her manager. The manager used a counterfeit checking pen, which showed the paper was legitimate currency. The business said that it appears to be a smaller bill, re-printed as a $100 dollar bill.
"We held it up. We didn't see a strip, you know how they have the numbers strip, we didn't see that. So that's what made me real iffy. It looked fake, but ink was coming off because another one of my co-workers licked his finger and kind of like rubbed it," said Bouie.
After getting her food, the woman quickly left. It wasn't until the morning, when manager Lisa Fields came in, that the business called police.
"It felt real. We've dealt with fake money before, and so you can kind of tell the feel or you can tell by the look," said Fields.
The Kent County Sheriff's Department said that business wasn't the only one. A couple more got hit up by who they believe was the same woman.
One of those other business was Cirilla's. That business is just feet away from Taco Boy.
"It pops up from time to time. It's not a rash, if you would. It's more of a crime of opportunity. I don't know where they are coming across these counter fit bills, but I have seen this in the past from the south end of the county to the far reaches to the north of the county," said Lt. Al Roetman.
In all of the incidents, the woman was caught on surveillance video. The video is now in the hands of investigators.
A seemingly real bill, being reprinted as a larger amount is something the sheriff's department said is just another sign of advancements in technology.
"With technology comes additional ways to falsify, make fraudulent documents, money, ect. Which keeps us on our toes and we have to be one step ahead all the time," said Lt. Roetman.
The sheriff's department also said that it's possible the woman who used the bills received them from someone else and didn't know they were fake. That woman could have also been from out of town, and could be long gone.
Anyone with information on those fake bills is asked to call Silent Observer at 616-774-2345.
