Vicksburg Woman Receives Counterfeit Money At Portage Garage Sale

A Vicksburg woman is warning others after she found counterfeit money in her change from a Portage garage sale.

It is garage sale season in Michigan and it is perhaps one of the last places you would expect to receive counterfeit or fake money. So maybe that is why a Vicksburg woman didn't give the change she received at a Portage area garage sale a second look. Laura, like other area residents, went to several garage sales over the last weekend. Nothing about her day or stops was out of the ordinary until she went to pay for an item at a yard sale using change she had received for one of her previous purchases at a different stop. Laura says as she counted out her money for her purchase there was a one-dollar bill that did not feel the same as the rest of her money. Upon closer inspection, writing across the top of the face of the bill said this "FOR MOTION PICTURE USE PURPOSES" while written smaller in the back she found "WITH MONEY BE HAPPY".

Luckily for Laura, it was only $1. The rest of the money she received in change was legitimate. The bogus bill was likely given to her by mistake after it had been used to purchase an item at the garage sale before her.

This is not the first time a Michigan resident was unwittingly a victim of funny money but luckily for Laura, it's a lesson that doesn't sting so badly. She hopes to warn other area residents to be more vigilant especially at garage sales. Many businesses train clerks and cashiers on how to spot fake money. Garage sales are a lot more laid back and it can be easy to miss the subtle differences if you don't know what to look out for.