MONEY INC DIGEST # 33 WRITTEN BY: SONIC FURY SPREAD ON 03/15/95 ***>$ MONEY INC $<*** PRESENTS: Making Money With Don Lapri Here's a little scam that's been going on for years now, and still works perfectly fine under most circumstances. One of the first modern methods of making some quick cash was a method still in practice today called "raised notes." The basic principal behind raised notes was covered in MYC Digest #32. With this scam, the con artist receives a 19 dollar return on his dollar. I will first cover the method behind producing raised notes, then I'll cover some practical tips on not getting caught, where to pass the notes, and what to do if you are caught. First, go get some creme colored paper at an office supply store. Take this paper and photocopy twenty dollar bills onto it. This is the trickiest part of the process, because the density of the photocopied bills MUST MATCH the density of the original. Play around with the lightness and darkness settings till you get a match. Now cut out the heads and numbers (including the scroll work) from the creme colored copies. Go get your Elmer's Stix All and paste the heads and numbers onto a one dollar bill. Take a pencil and rub the point on a piece of paper to make a little spot of pencil dust. Take your finger and use the pencil dust to blend the numbers and portrait with the rest of the one dollar bill. Practice a little. When you're done, if the density of the copy matches the density of the dollar, and if you've done a nice job blending the creme paper with pencil dust, the finished product will look like a very convincing optical illusion. The final product you are holding in your hand is what the Treasury refers to as "raised notes." Ok, now you have these bills and you want to put them into action. The best way to avoid being caught is to use a partner. Position your friend outside a store somewhere with a wad of raised notes. Some of the best places to pass your raised notes are grocery stores. Pick a time when the store is busy. Now your friend is outside waiting with a wad of raised notes. Take ONE raised note into the store with you. It's best to also carry a real $20 on your person too. Go get something to drink and a candy bar, just make sure the total's under $1. Wait in the express line. If the line is too short or the cashier doesn't look stressed enough, then hang out and read some magazines untill the line becomes longer or the cashier starts looking like she really wants out of the place. The busier the store, and the more stressed the clerk, the greater your success rate. Your success depends on misdirection, I'll explain more about this soon. Great, now the cashier looks like she's about to kill someone because the fuckin people can't read the sign and instead of bringing the maximum 15 items into her line, they bring a whole shopping cart full of shit. Now's when you make your way into the line. On a busy day, believe me, she will love you for only buying a drink and a candy bar. When it comes time to pay, slip her the raised note. The minute she takes it and glances at it, start talking. Say anything, ask her for directions somewhere, ask her how her day's going, ask her for the time, whatever. Your main goal here is to misdirect her attention from the bill. Even if her eyes do not leave the bill, her mind will. As long as the cash transaction is fast, nine times out of ten your bill will go undetected. She makes the change, and you just made $19. Go outside, team up with your friend, get another note, and move on to another store. Now to change the scenario. Say she looks at the bill and notices the fact that it looks like a twenty except for the bar across the top stating it's a one dollar bill. The first thing she'll do is think "huh?!" Then she'll look at you. Keep your cool and just smile, do not let her know that you know something's phony about the bill. When she says something to you about the cash, PLAY THE VICTIM. Act shocked. Act pissed. Act like you're the one that just got ripped off. Tell her you just made change at another store, so you just lost $20. Take out your real twenty and offer to pay with that. Even if they hold the bill and call the cops, they can't do anything about it. Offer to destroy the bill, just act sincere. As long as you are only carrying ONE bill on you, and you don't confess to your crime, they can't do shit. This isn't considered counterfeiting, because you aren't actually manufacturing money, just vandalising it. Go outside, team up with your friend, get another note and move on to another store. This is a quick and simple way to make some money. I wouldn't do this everyday, just at dire times. At the end of the day when they count the money, or when it finally reaches the bank, the manager will be alerted to the raised notes and probably post a bulletin to the employees that handle cash. So if you pass one today, and go back tomorrow and try to pass one, you probably will get caught. The ideal time to pass raised notes is on vacation. Before you leave to go on vacation, make up a shit load of raised notes and take them with you. Pass them everywhere, who gives a fuck, it's not your home state (I hope you leave the state when you go on vacation). Away from home, you can just go in and out of the grocery store passing notes. After you pass the first one, go outside, get another, wait a few minutes, go back, and pass one at a different clerk. You're never gonna go back in that place again, so it doesn't matter. You can make a nice profit in a day by doing this. Have fun, and be careful... - Sonic Fury MONEY INC is - Sleepy - Sonic Fury - CCRider - Method Man - The Big Cheese - And those guests who contribute their ideas Back Issues of MYC Digest are currently available via Anonymous FTP at ftp.paranoia.com Copywrong 1995, Money Inc.