Desert Woman Victim Of Holiday Shopping Scam

A Palm Desert woman became the victim of counterfeit cash Wednesday while making a holiday purchase at Target.

She was first accused of being a thief herself before authorities stepped in.

She went to Target to buy a video game for her daughter.

The purchase had to be made in the electrics section of the store.

LeAnne Kelly said she paid with cash.

“I handed them a $100 and they gave me back my change,” said Kelly. “(I) put it directly in my pocket and continued on with shopping.”

She then made an additional purchase at the front counter with a credit card and left the store.

She wanted to save her cash to buy dinner, “And when I went to go pay for the dinner with what I had in my pocket from the change, they informed me that I had counterfeit money,” she said.

Genuine serial numbers have a distinctive style and are evenly spaced.

The ink color is also the same as the Treasury seal. Counterfeit bills are the exact opposite.

But that’s just one way to tell a fake.

Kelly went back to Target to let them know what happened but she said the manager accused her of possibly being involved in the crime.

“What they told me is that they had no way of proving that they gave me the money and basically too bad me,” she said. “So, I was a little angry.”

Kelly called the Sheriff’s Department.

A deputy showed up at Target and reviewed surveillance video from the past few hours.

He was able to watch Kelly’s purchase, zoom in and write down the serial numbers of the two counterfeit twenty dollar bills she was handed back.

He then traced the bills back to the people who passed them on to Target.

The matched serial numbers proved Kelly was innocent.

“People need to be aware that it is really going on a lot out there,” she said.

Target released a statement, “we are taking the situation very seriously and partnering with law enforcement.”

Authorities are looking for three Hispanics.

One 23-year-old woman standing 5 feet tall, weighing 200 pounds and last seen wearing a black top.

She was with another man and woman. All three drove off in a white car.

“Hopefully, I’ll get my money back,” she said. “I bought a video game for my daughter and it ended up costing me, instead of $40, it cost me $80. So, I don’t know. I know I won’t be shopping at Target again.”