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Money

People Are Actually Confusing This Fake Movie Money for Real Cash

The police warned residents in Pennsylvania to keep an eye out for the prop bills, which clearly say "MOTION PICTURE USE ONLY."
Drew Schwartz
Brooklyn, US
Photo via the Aliquippa Bureau of Police

Someone in a small Pennsylvania town has apparently been trying to spend prop movie money like it's the real thing, duping one local business and prompting police to issue a warning about the phony cash.

According the Associated Press, the cops haven't revealed where the money might've come from or who's used it—they've only confirmed that at least one fake $20 bill has passed through a local business in the town of Aliquippa. And while it looks pretty close to the real thing, there are a few blatant giveaways. For one, the words "MOTION PICTURE USE ONLY" are emblazoned in big letters on both sides, along with a smaller, even more explicit warning: "This note is not legal, it is to be used for motion pictures."

To be fair, some of the other discrepancies with the cash are a bit easier to miss. It's signed by the "Secrtary" of the Treasury, which would be a pretty major fuck-up for the US government, though it wouldn't be the first time the current administration missed an embarrassing typo. Plus, instead of looking all stoic and regal, Andrew Jackson seems like he might be about to cry. Still, police wrote in a statement that the money has been "circulating around our area" and asked residents to "please use extra care" when they're dealing with cash.

This isn't the first time folks have gotten confused about Hollywood money. Robert Pattinson recently spent a few hundred dollars in fake cash while filming Good Time, forgetting the money in his pocket was phony, Vulture reports. And when the masterminds behind Rush Hour 2 blew up thousands of fake bills for that exploding casino scene, extras and passersby picked up the cash and tried to hawk it to business owners in Las Vegas, according to Gizmodo. The Secret Service had to swoop in and ended up confiscating about $100 million worth of fake cash from the Strip.

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