Employee gets fired for accidentally accepting fake bills, despite following procedures while checking them, suspects they are taking someone else's blame: ‘Something’s fishy'

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Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Sep 26, 2024 10:00 AM EDT

Accidentally accepting a fake bill is one of the most annoying things that can happen to someone who handles money as part of their job. No one wants to deal with the aftermath of finding out there are fake bills in the register, where the best case scenario is that the money will be deducted from your pay, and the worst case is immediate termination.

The latter has happened to the employee in this Reddit story, and we can definitely understand their frustration in this situation. OP (original poster) followed the exact procedure when they received the bills, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It was only when they were called by the boss that they found out that they had accepted two fake $100 bills, which led to their immediate termination from their job.

Keep scrolling to read what happened next. After you are done, click here for a story of a new hire convinced they were hiring by mistake.

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  • 01
    KAFEDERAL RESERVE NOTE THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FOR ALL OTE IS DENTS, PUB IS LEGAL T TS, PUBLIC END E73675095 J WASHINGTON, DC 5 S E E73675095 J S 5. Mary Ellen Wither AMBARO ONE DOLLAR
    via alan64
  • 02
    Fired for accepting fake bills
    via Independent-Ad9176
  • 03
    Hello everyone, today i got fired because I accepted two fake hundred dollar bills acouple days ago. Now, I checked the bills in the air and the only technique that |
    via Independent-Ad9176
  • 04
    was taught to check if they were fake was looking at the face to the right. So I saw the face to the right, I also used a counterfeit marker in which it said it was real. Two days
    via Independent-Ad9176
  • 05
    later i'm opening my store as i'm an Operations Manager and i notice my boss is here which isn't normal, She then explains I took two fake hundreds and I made my
    via Independent-Ad9176
  • 06
    statement, had to give her my keys, and I was fired. She was sad but I knew it wasn't her call it was just policy. I understand if the bills had spongebob on it and they were obviously fake then i believe i
    via Independent-Ad9176
  • 07
    should've been fired but for two "fake" bills to pass the counterfeit marker test (i tested the marker on paper to see if it was defective and the marker worked and turned
    via Independent-Ad9176
  • 08
    black on the paper) and for it to have the face on the right, Is this justified? I understand if i didn't even bother to check it but I did follow policy and if it was truly fake
    via Independent-Ad9176
  • 09
    then it just happened to fool me and fool the marker. I feel like I've been wrongfully terminated but what do you guys think?
    via Independent-Ad9176
  • 10
    Prestigious-Board-62 Something fishy here. Did they show you the fake bills? How do you know you actually did it? Don't be so quick to assume you are being told the truth. It's just as likely that someone else up and is blaming you so they don't get in trouble.
    via Prestigious-Board-62
  • 11
    Independent-Ad9176 OP Yeah, my manager showed me the bills and said it's fake because the Tuxedo on benjamin franklin wasn't scratchy and bill didn't feel real. I tried to say "but the bill passed the marker and has the face on it" but she told me that doesn't matter because of the tux and the feel of the bill
    via Independent-Ad9176
  • 12
    Condition Dense I've heard of fake bills passing the machines even. I used to scratch the ink with my nails and all kinds of things other than just the pen. I got a fake bill attempt once. Also the
    via Condition_Dense
  • 13
    company I used to work for got an older bill and refused to take it assuming it was fake and it was in fact a legitimate bill and the guy trying to pay raised hi.
    via Condition_Dense
  • 14
    Independent-Ad9176 OP Yeah the company I work with does the same, they don't like taking older bills, it's not policy but they just don't like doing it. I take the old bills because I feel like it's up to not take a bill that's real but old. I guess it bit me in the a today though
    via Independent-Ad9176
  • 15
    Fun_Blackberry7059 Well you lost your job, but it sounds like you've got a great case for unemployment at least. IDK if your state has any further worker protections, most don't unfortunately.
    via Fun_Blackberry7059
  • 16
    stayoffmygrass Oh, man! You are going to make some lawyer very happy!
    via stayoffmygrass
  • 17
    Independent-Ad9176 OP I live in california. I don't know much about the law but I heard in california employers can fire you for anything as long as it isn't rst or sist and they can get away with it.
    via Independent-Ad9176
  • 18
    the_simurgh The only way safely to determine a bill is legitimate anymore is to look for the security strip woven into the bill that says "USA" and the bill denomination. This pnly starts at twenty dollar bills, i think, maybe tens. They have the ability to fake the f holostrip on them now for c ng 'es.
    via the_simurgh
  • 19
    Independent-Ad9176 OP Crazy how the counterfeiters are getting better and better at this . Feel like pretty soon we won't even be able to tell at all
    via Independent-Ad9176
  • 20
    SpecialK022 The watermark is just one thing to check. The metal strip is another. But if the marker didn't tell you it was fake then there's not much more you could have done. You sure YOU were the one who took the bad bills?
    via SpecialK022
  • 21
    Independent-Ad9176 OP Well, it was my cashier at the time but policy says to call a manager to verify them and I was the manager who verified it. I remember accepting them and later when the other manager who was gonna close came I asked her about the bills
    via Independent-Ad9176
  • 22
    because our machine didn't take it and told her, "I took these bills, i think the machine won't take it because there old but they pass the marker test and the faces were there" and even she couldn't tell if they were fake or not.
    via Independent-Ad9176
  • 23
    4-ton-mantis Was it your marker or the little company's? Because if it's the company's marker well you used their tool as instructed and made conclusions as instructed by the little company. That's not on. You. Looks like management above you is scapegoating.
    via 4-ton-mantis
  • 24
    Independent-Ad9176 OP Well it's a marker that we sell. We store use Counterfeit markers that we sell and use those. We have them at all the registers and in the office.
    via Independent-Ad9176
  • 25
    none781 Sounds like an excuse. Like they've wanted to get rid of you but were just waiting for a reason. You p off? someone
    via none781
  • 26
    Independent-Ad9176 OP Nah I assumed I was chill with everyone, I was loved by the district manager too because I would always go to other stores and help out when she needed me.
    via Independent-Ad9176
  • 27
    positivedownside because the Tuxedo on benjamin franklin wasn't scratchy and bill didn't feel real. Listen, the tuxedo doesn't feel any particular way. Your manager doesn't know what they're talking about.
    via positivedownside
  • 28
    Independent-Ad9176 OP That's what I thought too
    via Independent-Ad9176
  • 29
    Sum-Duud It is very very fishy that they would still have these counterfeit bills because how do they know they are counterfeit? If they took them to the bank, the bank keeps them and contacts secret service, so it sounds
    via Sum-Duud
  • 30
    like speculation that these are counterfeit. Only thing you can do is file unemployment and contact a labor lawyer. Bills feel different based on how new and circulated they are.
    via Sum-Duud
  • 31
    Independent-Ad9176 OP It is speculation, they didn't take it no where to check. They didn't call anyone. Thats why i'm not happy about me being fired like this
    via Independent-Ad9176

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boss workplace-stories employee fired manager job tales-from-the-workplace reddit story bills overworked-employees workplace Reddit company dollar bills funny money
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