JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Three men who tried to go on a shopping spree with counterfeit bills at several Jacksonville businesses succeeded at one store before getting turned away by another, according to police.
Police reports suggest the trio stopped at the Publix on Roosevelt Boulevard shortly before 8 p.m. Wednesday with one of them trying to buy gift cards with seven counterfeit bills. A store clerk denied the transaction multiple times until a manager walked over and the customer left the store.
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About 20 minutes later, the group had slightly better luck at the nearby Winn-Dixie. One of the men bought toilet paper and a gift card using four counterfeit $100 bills, according to one of the police incident reports. The other two men were denied when they tried making purchases using similar bills at neighboring registers.
A store manager for Winn-Dixie told police that she had received a phone call from a Publix manager warning her about customers trying to use the bogus cash, the report said. She said the other store’s manager had told her that something similar happened at a Target nearby, but those efforts were unsuccessful.
It’s unclear how many times the group succeeded. But it appears the fake bills passed the marker test, which made them even more difficult to detect than other counterfeit cash.
Businesses wondering what to look out for should consult the U.S. Department of Treasury, which has a list of tips showing how people can protect themselves from these scams.