Counterfeit bills turn up at local big box stores

HOUSTON – Two Houston area shoppers claimed to have received phony $100 bills after cashing checks at different Walmarts in the Cypress area. Both incidents happened within the last week and involved stores on Farm to Market Road 529 near Highway 6 and on West Little York Road at Fry Road.

"I felt like I was just in the middle of a hurricane and I was just in complete shock," Stephanie Davis said.

Davis said she planned to use cash to pay her rent this month, so she cashed an $800 check at the Walmart on FM 529. Davis said she received eight $100 bills and immediately went to the bank. Davis said that when the bank teller looked at the money, she was told five of the bills were counterfeit.

"I was in shock," Davis said. "I was like, 'What do you mean counterfeit?'"

The money was confiscated, and Davis had to fill out Department of Homeland Security/Secret Service forms for each of the counterfeit bills. Davis also had to explain to her landlady why the rent was going to be late.

"I was completely, you know, how is this going to sound, because this has never happened to me or anyone I know, for that matter," said Davis. "Not a lot of hardworking people like me just have an extra $500 dollars."

Davis wasn't alone. Another man notified Local 2 Investigates that his son received counterfeit $100 bills after cashing a check at the Walmart on West Little York. In both cases, Local 2 was told, the newer bills were good; it was the older bills that were bogus.

In the second case, Walmart refunded the man's money because his father took the extra step of filing a report with Harris County Sheriff's Office after filling out Secret Service forms at the bank.

Davis has had a tougher time. Davis said no one at the store told her that in addition to filling out the Secret Service paperwork, she also needed to file a report with the sheriff's office in order to get her money back.

After Local 2 spoke with Walmart officials on her behalf, they said that as soon as Davis files a report with the sheriff's office they will refund her $500. Officials from the company said a local police report is always needed to process a refund in these circumstances.

Davis filed the report Friday evening. Walmart officials said they are working to determine how the bills got into these stores.


About the Author:

Award winning investigative journalist who joined KPRC 2 in July 2000. Husband and father of the Master of Disaster and Chaos Gremlin. “I don’t drink coffee to wake up, I wake up to drink coffee.”