What happens if you unknowingly spend counterfeit money?

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asked Dec 31, 2020 in Law & Legal by Southernskygirl (290 points)
What happens if you unknowingly spend counterfeit money?

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answered Dec 31, 2020 by Jodie (35,100 points)

If you unknowingly spend counterfeit money then the store will report the counterfeit money and you will usually have a court date.

Then you show up in court and have to prove you did not really know that you had counterfeit money and if you really did not know it was counterfeit then you would likely either be let off or have to pay back the money in court.

It has happened to me before and I accidentally spent a $100.00 counterfeit bill and the store just reported it to the police, then I had to show  up in court and prove it was not a willful act.

I actually just had to pay back the $100.00 and didn't have to pay any fines but it can depend on the amount of money you spent.

If you spent a lot more counterfeit money then you could be arrested and if the store sees you trying to pass counterfeit money then you might be arrested right there and the counterfeit money confiscated.

The secret service only really gets involved if there's a lot more counterfeit money being spent.

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