A counterfeit $100 bill scam is affecting several businesses within the surrounding area, including Manhasset and Great Neck.
Several shopkeepers in Manhasset learned that they had been the victims of receiving counterfeit $100 bills on Tuesday, Jan. 20, between 6 and 7 p.m.
According to Eric, owner of DeLis Salon, a young Hispanic woman in her mid-20s entered his establishment around 6:15 p.m. He engaged her in conversation, talking about the hair products he had for sale and which would create the best curls. He asked whether she was from around here and she answered “yes” and proceeded to pay for the item with a $100 bill.
He checked the bill with a counterfeit detection pen and the bill passed as good. The woman
then pocketed the change and left the store. She went to several other stores on Plandome Road
and either purchased a low-priced item or asked for change of $100 and paid for it in counterfeit $100 bills. The bills were checked with a fraud pen and were considered to
be valid; however, checked under an ultraviolet sensor they come up as counterfeit. The number of stores approached by this woman is unknown.
In addition, the woman would change her appearance subtly by pinning up her hair in one store and putting on glasses or a hat. Police reports were filed by the owners of Noble Nails and the surrounding shopkeepers.
In a phone conversation with Commanding Officer Inspector Sean McCarthy of the Third Precinct, the reports were filed and sent to the “Crimes Against Properties” unit. No update was available at the time of our conversation.
According to a source at the Great Neck Plaza Chamber of Commerce, two stores complained about counterfeit bills being passed on the same day.
This photograph was taken by the video surveillance at DeLis Salon; however, several cameras are on Plandome, including the ATM camera at the First National Bank of Long Island.
The quality of the fraud is so good that some shopkeepers will not accept $100 bills anymore.
This is widespread and even goes into Brooklyn where signs in windows say, “We don’t accept $100 bills.”
