Louisville Police find over $10K in fake cash, forged money orders in February

LOUISVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Louisville Police say they have recovered more than $10,000 worth of fake bills and money orders during February.

“The merchants have been made aware of it and are now very tentative of $100 bills and other money that might be fake,” says LPD Captain of Investigations Mike Perkins.

Perkins says they found over $7,000 in counterfeit bills during a traffic stop Tuesday night after Gregory’s Food Mart reported that someone tried to pay them with a fake money order.

“We also had reports that a person bought a car and was given four $1,000 money orders and realized later that the money orders were forged,” he says.

LPD investigators say they’ve recovered five forged money orders since February 1, 2022.

The fake $100 bills can be easy to catch.

“We mark the bills, it should turn yellow, and if it turns black or brown, it’s probably counterfeit,” says Gregory’s co-owner Shannon Gregory. “Also, you can tell by the way that it feels, and you can look for the blue stripe and the hologram.”

The problem with the money orders: They are real.

Investigators say these counterfeiters are purchasing actual money orders for $1 and then forging them to make it look like they’re worth $1,000.

“Using computer-generated printers to add the three more extra zeros,” Perkins says.

Gregory’s Food Mart says they won’t even sell money orders of that size.

“It costs 75 cents to print a money order, so it’s just not feasible to print one for a dollar,” says manager Brenda Leone.

Stores that are scammed by counterfeiters can end up paying a high price.

“If we never could identify who it was that actually passed (the money order), the merchant or the individual can actually be out $1,000,” Perkins says.

Perkins is advising all businesses in the Louisville area and beyond not to accept money orders worth exactly $1,000 at this time.

“That’s all we’re seeing and that’s all our surrounding agencies are seeing, is money orders made out to exactly $1,000.”

Anyone who suspects someone is trying to pay with counterfeit cash or money orders should contact the police immediately.