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Stupidity

by Mike Masnick

Wed, Mar 10th 2004 10:06am





Shopping With A Million Dollar Bill

from the yeah,-good-luck-with-that dept

There's counterfeiting, and then there's counterfeiting. It must take quite a bit of gall to shop for $1,672 worth of stuff at the local Wal-Mart, and then ask for change on the $1,000,000 bill you present the cashier. The obviously fake bill (of which the woman was carrying three at the time) didn't get very far, and the woman was arrested for counterfeiting. I just am wondering why she thought the cash register might be holding $998,328 in cash. The woman still claims she thought the bill was real - and that her husband had given the $3 million to her (it apparently never occurred to her to ask him why he was handing her $3 million in cash). Of course, the obvious reason is that she knew it was fake, but didn't think through how obvious that fakeness was. Still, it would seem like the best defense to this charge is that it was a stupid prank, rather than insisting that she believed the notes were real.

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  1.  
    identicon
    alex, Mar 10th, 2004 @ 11:52am

    funny money

    Of course the guy who obviously was aware of the fakeness of this particular bill thought it through enough to pass it to some clueless cashier and got change back.

    http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/bushbill1.html

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2.  
    identicon
    Director Mitch, Mar 10th, 2004 @ 6:23pm

    Re: funny money

    I got a laugh out of the Bush bill. There was also a Clinton $3 bill and I am sure there is a Nixon one somewhere out there in the novelty stores.

    As a currency collector (I mean collecting old currency, as well as collecting current currency in savings), I did a post giving a quick overview different types of money, but here are the particulars for the woman with the $1MM bill:

    - Largest U.S. bill ever printed was $100,000, but used only for internal trasfers between the different fed banks

    - Largest U.S. bill ever printed for general cirulation was $10,000 (now worth a fortune to collectors)

    - The largest "current" issue bill is $100, which is something I think managers would pass on to thier less educated cashiers.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  3.  
    identicon
    Michael Moncur, Mar 11th, 2004 @ 9:38am

    Million dollar bills

    Ironically, i've seen gimmick million-dollar bills for sale... at my local Walmart. Probably the exact ones described here.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  4.  
    identicon
    LittleW0lf, Mar 11th, 2004 @ 11:10am

    Re: funny money

    - The largest "current" issue bill is $100, which is something I think managers would pass on to thier less educated cashiers.

    According to the article (which nobody ever reads anyway,) "The cashier immediately noticed the bill - bearing the picture of the Statue of Liberty - was fake and called her manager who alerted the police."

    The lady was an idiot to think it would work, and anyone who says otherwise is fooling themselves. The mugshot on the article shows how white trash this woman actually is...

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  5.  
    identicon
    Joe Baderderm, Mar 11th, 2004 @ 12:18pm

    walmartsucks.com

    I love how many of the employees posting on walmartsucks.com think that had the bill gone to their store, their cashiers would have tried to give change out.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  6.  
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Mar 11th, 2004 @ 12:52pm

    Re: funny money

    You're right, the cashier in the Walmart case knew what she was doing and it was the "buyer" who was the idiot.

    In the case referenced in the first comment, the cashier ACCEPTED a G.W. Bush $250 bill and gave change, so in that case it was the cashier who was at fault.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  7.  
    identicon
    AMetamorphosis, Mar 12th, 2004 @ 12:32pm

    Re: funny money


    I'm just surprised that the Walmart cashier didn't try to make change ...

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  8.  
    identicon
    Bill Million, Mar 14th, 2004 @ 11:01pm

    No problem paying if she's fined!!!

    So she goes to court and they fine her a Million buck - she'll just pay cash, and still have a bill or two left!

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  9.  
    identicon
    Janelle, Mar 20th, 2004 @ 10:38am

    Million Dollar Bills

    Great Ad work for those people who sell those million dollar bills... everyone will be rushing out to get one!! I'm saving this story! The girls at work will love it, since its a running joke, when anyone goes out for anything, asking the rest if you need anything and the reply is yeah, a million bucks!

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  10.  
    identicon
    James Rogers, Apr 26th, 2006 @ 3:07pm

    Re: Million Dollar Bills

    If you are interested in money click http://web.mac.com/omieye/iWeb/LITAOL06/R.I.P.E.Z.html
    From a Million to nothing!

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


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