Beaufort cops warn of ‘prop money’ being used to scam local businesses. How to spot it
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South Carolina has the seventh-highest rate of fraud cases in the U.S., and the state’s relatively high median age leaves residents especially vulnerable to scammers’ tactics. National data shows older adults are disproportionately affected by such crimes.
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The Beaufort Police Department is warning local businesses about an uptick in “prop money” being used in place of real currency. The phony bills aren’t quite as obvious as Monopoly money, but there are easy ways to identify potential trickery.
Since Jan. 1, Beaufort police have received three reports of prop money being used for purchases within city limits. As of Wednesday, Investigators were unsure if the customers had used the fake bills unknowingly or if the transactions were intentional scams, according to department spokesperson Lindsey Edwards.
On Jan. 11 in Port Royal, a counterfeit $100 bill was used by a customer at the Subway store on Parris Island Gateway, according to an incident report.
Master Sgt. Danny Allen of the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office said deputies had not received recent reports of similar fraudulent transactions, although the use of counterfeit bills is an intermittent issue for the department.
It isn’t illegal to simply own prop money, which is widely used in the film industry and subject to its own federal regulations. A crime is committed when someone attempts to misrepresent prop money as real currency for a purchase.
The fake bills are widely available online — on Amazon, a 300-piece set of imitation $100 bills goes for about $15.
The Beaufort Police Department advised residents to inspect cash carefully before accepting it, using any of these indicators to identify potential prop money:
- Terms and phrases like “For motion picture use only,” “This note is not legal tender” and “Copy” appear on one or both sides of the bill.
- The president’s name is altered or missing.
- Serial numbers are identical on multiple bills.
- Bills do not contain security features like color-shifting ink, watermarks and raised printing.
- The crest on the left side reads “We are United” instead of “United States Federal Reserve System.”
Beaufort County residents who come across counterfeit money can contact the sheriff’s office non-emergency line at 843-524-2777.
Representatives from the Bluffton and Port Royal police departments did not immediately respond to inquiries about potential fraud cases in their jurisdictions.
This story was originally published January 15, 2025 at 1:53 PM.
