This question came up recently with a bunch of elderly people.

[Booster]

If you go into a store and give the clerk a hundred dollar bill, and that clerk checks it and says it's fake, the clerk is supposed to keep it right and report it to the authorities. What's to stop any clerk from saying it's fake and at the end of the day just keeping the bill? This happened to one of the people in the group and she said she was just out $100. Would you insist the police be called on the spot or what?

[RKP5637]

1. Call the police on the spot and be sure they don't switch bills. n/t

[elleng]

3. AND they give credit for 'paying.'

The clerk/cashier is NOT the be all and end all.

[valerief]

2. Don't give clerks hundred dollar bills. nt

[ClassWarrior]

4. Exactly. Most places won't change a fifty anyway.

NGU.

[Statistical]

10. The irony is the most counterfit bill is the $20.

Easier to pass, less scrutiny, and still significant amount of revenue from fraud (no sense making bogus $5 bills).

[jtuck004]

5. "Supposed to keep it"? If you tender it for payment, it is still yours until

they give it back or give you change - that includes when the Secret Service is notified and you are interviewed. They cannot "assume ownership" just because they are a store.

They should notify the police, and ask you to stay. They are alleging, by virtue of saying it's not a real bill, that you are attempting a fraud or theft. The clerk, and the store, should be very careful with the next steps they take, and one hopes that they already havea policy for this, though not all do.

If they are correct, you are out $100, and will be making new aquaintances. If they are not, you still owe them for the merchandise.

[Booster]

6. Thanks. Your answer makes a lot of sense. How in the world

would you ever defend yourself on this? Sounds like we should all pay close attention to where we get large bills and keep receipts, etc. on transactions so you can show where you got it. I would imagine if you said you got it from a bank, they will just say "Oh, no you didn't". LOL

[jtuck004]

8. That is a perfectly reasonable answer. I have been in this situation

and the agents are very interested in finding the source, not just screwing up the day for the person whose hand the bill landed in before they met you. Your odds of getting one from a bank are a little lower because they are trained better, usually, and higher from some restaurant or in payment for a car, etc.

But you are going to be out $100, as I had to explain to a person. That was an expensive lesson for them.

[Warpy]

7. I would. Either they can refuse to take the bill and return my property

or they can contact the authorities about it. They don't get to take my property "just because."

The clerk acted illegally. Any business can refuse to accept money it thinks is counterfeit. They are not allowed to confiscate it on the spot.

That lady needs to start spreading word of mouth around about that particular business and that particular clerk ASAP. A call to the manager might be in order, too.

Even a counterfeit bill is your property. No one gets to deprive you of it without due process.

[Statistical]

9. "that clerk checks it and says it's fake, the clerk is supposed to keep it"

Clerk has no arrest or seizure authority. Clerk can accept the bill and let merchandise go or clerk can refuse bill and keep merchandise. They can't have their cake and eat it to.

Clerk can call Police but you are under no obligation to remain at store because just like clerk lacks authority to seize private property they lack the authority to arrest/detain someone.

I never take cash from anyone/anywhere except a bank so if a clerk said my $100 is bogus I would go to the bank where I got it from.

However this is a good reason why I very rarely use cash for anything. Put all purchased on credit card, pay it off at end of month.
Fraud protection, my money doesn't get tied up in event of mistake/fraud/"holds", don't need to worry about eating a counterfeit bill or having a talk with secret service.

Really there is very little reason to use cash anymore.

[truedelphi]

11. I had a twenty that the gas station manager said was a fake -

And he handed it back to me.

They have installed new machinery to determine if a bill is counterfeit or not.

the machinery noticed a slip of a ballpoint pen on the bill (just a thin short line of a pen) - that set the machinery on "reject" mode.

Both of the assistant managers said that the manager should accept my bill as payment, as the new machinery is too sensitive.

I went across the street and used the twenty dollar bill there, no problem.

What was scary about all of this is until three years ago, I worked late nights.

This is the only gas station in town open after 9:30 Pm. So if this had happened to me then, I might have ended up having to sleep in the car.