Column #231-Fake Money Again _2_ - The Garage Sale Gal

Fake Money
Lynda Hammond
I may be a harmless “Gal” most of the time as I sashay my way from sale to sale. But I’ve
discovered the mere glimpse of me at garage sales just might create a fright. Or at least that’s
what one couple hopes.
It was a brisk winter’s day when Bill and Fran Arbogast held another garage sale. And this time
they would be ever vigilant, watching for those who may want to take advantage of a nice,
friendly gray-haired couple. They refused to fall victim..again. “It upsets you; you know that we
didn’t pay attention. You just don’t think people will do that,” says Bill. What a lady did at their
previous sale was give the kind couple a fake $20 bill. They never dreamed a garage sale buyer
could do such a thing. The suspect bought $4 worth of items and Fran gave her $16 in honest-togoodness
American dollar bills.
And to make matters worse, the Mesa couple found out the bill was phony while they were just
trying to have a little bit of fun at the Wild Horse Pass Casino in Chandler. They sat down at a
“Wheel of Fortune” quarter slot machine hoping for some good luck but it was not to be. “We
were trying to put the $20 bill in the slot and it wouldn’t go in. We went to the cashier and they
knew right away it was a fake,” Bill says. He was a bit worried they were going to spend the
night in the slammer but casino managers assured the Arbogasts it’s happened before. They
filled out some paperwork and the casino kept the $20. Bill knew the twenty was from the garage
sale they’d just had.
The Arbogasts aren’t alone. This is my fourth column I’ve written on garage salers who’ve
simply been trying to make some extra spending money when they accepted a fake bill. The bad
guys usually pass twenties but one man in Gilbert received a fake $50.
Now, back to their most recent garage sale—the first one they’d held since getting the funny
money.
This time they were armed. Now, they didn’t have guns, knives or bad attitudes but they did
have “paper”. That’s right, they wanted all their customers to take a look at some written
warnings by the Garage Sale Gal. “We wanted people to know that we knew about them and that
we were watching them,” Bill said.
Bill and Fran kept my Republic column from December 3, “Scam Alert: counterfeiters armed
with various tricks” about a woman who received fake money at her sale. They were surprised
to see that other sellers had also been scammed by accepting fake money at a garage sale. So,
they kept my column, made copies and posted them around their sale urging buyers to read it.
“Everything went just fine. We got about six twenties and they were fine so we’re good,” Fran
told me on the phone after the sale.

Fran used a marker from a business supply store to check the bills. You mark the bill and if no
color (or a light color) appears it’s authentic. If the mark turns black or brown it’s a fake. But a
word of warning: Those pens don’t always work and are useless if counterfeiters create a fake
$20 by printing it on real $5 bills.
Bottom line, be alert and aware and don’t mess with Bill and Fran Arbogast.
For more tips on avoiding fake money visit my blog at:
http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/LyndaHammond

(pic provided by Lynda Hammond) Bill Arbogast posted several copies of a previous column I
wrote on “buyers” giving fake money to sellers at garage sales.
Talk to the Garage Sale Gal!
____________________________________________________________________________
Do you have a question or comment about garage or estate bargain sales? Email the Garage
Sale Gal: Lynda@GarageSaleGal.com.
______________________________________________________________________________
Lynda Hammond is a former television anchor who left the anchor desk for the love of garage
sales. Contact her at Lynda@GarageSaleGal.com. Lynda also does garage sale segments on
local TV stations.
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Bill and fran arbogast
357-1876
Wfa0612@aol.com
Fran:We closed up shop, no fake money, nope we were good.
Another lady said she saw it in the paper.
Gosh that’s too bad you can’t even go to a yard sale without someone trying to rip you off.
Received about five $20…checked them with the pen …all and they were good.
Holditup to the light and there’s a black security strip toward the top of the bill and look to the
right of the president and it’s a shadow of the president.
We wanted to let people know..you know like if that same woman came back she would know
that we’d know that she’s out there and that would probably keep her from trying it again.
She seemed sneaky, the bill didn’t feel just right but we were busy that day..i just know it was
her…
I don’t appreciate it being that I was in retail…we used to get them there…I certainly didn’t
appreciate it especially when we almost got arrested.
If someone tells me they don’t have money I would give them the items..don’t pass fake
money..
We probably sure will post that column again. That way they’ll know that we know and if they
ask why I’m doing it..i’ll say read this column.
Hallmark…
Manager…of seven stores..
59…
Bill: 65
Have about three garage sales a year.
I love it..i love to garge sal.e don’t look for anything in particual..i love old cookbooks…I had a
bunch but I sold most of them…we needed to get rid of some of the clutter.
Bill..burlington coat factory..keeps him busy.

Bill:I thought your article was great and informative especially for people who have no idea
about it. People have no idea it’s happeneing.
We got a fake 20 a couple months ago. Lady bought 4.00 worth of stuff and gave us a 20. We
went to wildhorse casino..for a nice breakfast then hit the slot machines. We were trying to put
the 20 in a wheel of fortune slot and it wouldn’t go in. we went to the chashier and they knew
right away it was fake.
We wanted people to know that we were watching them. You know that we were on to them. We
wanted people to know that we knew about them and that were were watching them.
That we knew.
Security came up and we had to fill out some paperwork and they kept the 20. We thought we
got ripped off.