2 female hamburglars busted for using fake $100 bills at In-N-Outs across California. And a smart employee caught it. Could you spot the difference?

Glendale Police Sgt. Gaik Pobokhian told the New York Post (2) that the pair “were ordering the smallest stuff so they could get the most cash from the change.” Receipts released by Glendale authorities show items like the chain’s famous “Flying Dutchman” burger for $5.50, or a single order of fries for $2.35. The Post reported that Pobokhian put the overall monetary loss at a “few thousand” dollars.

The counterfeit caper came to light on October 21 thanks to an “employee who happened to be paying attention and noticed that the $100 bill that had been used earlier appeared to be fake,” according to Fox News (3).

Fox reported that the employee, who works at a Glendale In-N-Out location, called the police and, from there, authorities say that detectives discovered “a broader pattern targeting In-N-Out locations throughout Los Angeles and Orange Counties” (1). Fox noted that all the fake $100 bills shown by authorities had the same serial number, a hallmark of counterfeits.

Glendale Police say Lewis was arrested in October while “in possession of counterfeit bills matching those used in the Glendale incident, along with numerous gift cards and transaction receipts believed to be connected to similar fraudulent activity” (1). She is facing charges of grand theft and felony counterfeiting. Foster, who was arrested in December, is awaiting a court date.

“This case underscores the importance of taking financial crimes seriously, regardless of dollar amount,” Glendale Police said in a press release (1). “Counterfeit currency schemes directly impact local businesses and employees, and swift investigative action helped stop ongoing criminal activity and prevent further victimization.”

Why funny money is no laughing matter

A 2025 report from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve (4) showed that there’s up to $30 million in counterfeit cash circulating in the United States. And because American currency is so widely used overseas, the report noted that authorities “recorded $102 million in counterfeit currency passed on the public worldwide during fiscal year 2023.”

The Fed says, though, that those numbers are technically down over the last decade — with counterfeits going from one in every 10,000 banknotes in the U.S. to between one in every 40,000 to 80,000 — thanks to public education and development of money with more sophisticated security elements. As well, the use of cash as a payment method overall has fallen, making up only 14% of consumer payments in 2024 (5).

Nevertheless, Rachel Gruber, Director of Strategic Account Management at security tech company Giesecke+Devrient, explained (6) that “Smaller transactions are still cash-led,” adding that a “substantial number” of Americans rely on paper money for reasons related to anything from familiarity and privacy to the inability to acquire credit cards.

And the United States Secret Service, often tasked with sniffing out crooked currency, says that the threat of counterfeits “continues to evolve. Advances in technology, the availability of scanning and printing devices and the adoption of the U.S. dollar by nations as their legal tender have exacerbated the global threat” (7).

It’s an example of what Gruber called “the old metaphor of you building a 10-foot wall, and the thief building an 11-foot ladder.”

To that end, recent reports show counterfeit cash popping up from Maine (8) to Florida (9) — including one bust of a truck traveling from Alabama to Orlando with more than $5 million in fake money (10).

Some examples of counterfeits, however, proved to be prop money with “for motion picture purposes" written on it, while others boasted writing in foreign languages.

And while those sound easy to spot, one Maine police official (11) said that fraudsters use them by mixing them in with real bills of the same denominations, making them less obvious when paying.

The Bureau of Engraving & Printing, however, is evolving how it combats “increasingly sophisticated counterfeit attacks” by employing “emerging technologies and exclusive, state-of-the-art security features” to redesign U.S. currency (12).

They say that new currency with greater anticounterfeit features will be released over the next decade, starting with a new $10 bill in 2026, followed by a new $50 bill (2028), $20 bill (2030), $5 bill (2032) and $100 bill (2034).

That’s welcome news, especially because the law says you’re not entitled to reimbursement if you’re scammed by a fake banknote. As the Fed bluntly puts it, “if you end up with a counterfeit note, you will lose that money” (13).

Easy ways to spot counterfeit currency

While the $20 bill remains the most counterfeited banknote in the U.S. (14), it’s important to learn how to protect yourself by spotting fake funds of any denomination immediately.

The U.S Currency Education Program (CEP) says there are three simple steps for sussing out funny money: feel, tilt and check (15).

Feel requires simply running your finger across the banknote, which “should feel slightly rough to the touch as a result of the printing process and the unique composition of the paper.”

Then, tilt the note to “see the ink in the numbers on the lower right corner change color … from copper to green.”

And lastly, check means to “hold the note to light to check that the watermark and security thread are visible from the front and back of the note.”

Meanwhile, a CEP podcast (16) on spotting counterfeits added a fourth step: “Look for micro printing,” Crystal Crosby, CEP’s Digital Brand Specialist, advised for denominations of $5 or higher.