Counterfeit Money

Counterfeit money. The thing that only really happens in movies and on dateline, right? WRONG!!! I found out last night that I was in possession of a counterfeit $100 bill. The bill was from Christmas, either from my parents or Brian's parents but either way it came from a bank. I went shopping with my sister last night and tried to spend my last $100 bill on some shorts. Like usual, the clerk held the bill up to the light to check the watermark and other security features. She couldn't see the watermark of Benjamin Franklin so she called someone else over to look. The guy looked and found the watermark to be Abraham Lincoln and the security tape said five, not one hundred, five. He said he had worked at a bank for a long time and what I had was a washed out five dollar bill. Natalie and I were both shocked. I mean who does that? That only happens in the movies. So, I took the fake bill to the bank where I cashed the check and it was given to me. I explained what happened to the bank teller who took the bill, ran it through their verification machine, looked at the watermark and then took it to his manager. The manager did some research, called her superiors and after about an hour and a half the bank agreed to credit my account the $100 (which I'm still waiting to see). Unfortunately, they didn't let me keep the fake bill because they had to send it to the US Secret Service along with the form I had to fill out. Apparently there have been several other fake bills reported to this bank in the last few months. So, the next time you get a large bill, check to make sure it is real before you leave the bank.