West Michigan Facebook Marketplace Deal Uncovered $36,000 in Fake Cash
Every once in a while, a story comes along that makes you stop and ask a very simple question: Who still thinks this is gonna work?
An 18 year old man from Gobles is facing charges after Michigan State Police say he and another suspect used counterfeit money to buy a designer belt through Facebook Marketplace.
Troopers from the MSP Paw Paw Post responded to a forgery and counterfeiting complaint after the two suspects allegedly showed up to a meet up in the 19000 block of 32nd Street in Pine Grove Township and paid with fake cash. And just as brilliant as this plan was, it just as quickly fell apart.
It wasn’t long before Troopers tracked both suspects to a nearby home. During their investigation, they seized approximately $36,400 in counterfeit $100 bills. That’s approximately 360+ fake bills, casually waiting to be dumped into the community had these goofballs not been caught.
Here is the part that is hard to wrap my head around. In 2025, with digital payment apps, instant transfers, cameras everywhere, and law enforcement that deals with this kind of thing regularly, someone still thought fake $100 bills from a Facebook Marketplace meet up would go unnoticed. The whole thing feels like a scheme that belongs in a movie from twenty years ago, not something happening in Van Buren County this week.
The 18 year old Gobles man was arrested and lodged in the Van Buren County Jail on charges of possession of counterfeit bills and uttering and publishing. A 20-year-old man from Plainwell was also arrested, and lodged in the Kalamazoo County Jail on an unrelated outstanding warrant.
According to the MSP, the investigation is still ongoing.
Passing counterfeit currency is not a minor offense. Authorities remind the public that it is a federal crime. If you receive a bill that looks suspicious, you are not supposed to try to spend it and make it someone else’s problem.
You are advised to report it to local law enforcement or the U.S. Secret Service, there is even a full guide online explaining how to identify counterfeit bills. So always keep an eye out, you never know who is still trying to pull this plan off.
