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Dartmouth market turns to Facebook to identify counterfeit money suspect

Click to play video: 'Counterfeit American cash in Nova Scotia'
Counterfeit American cash in Nova Scotia
Counterfeit American cash in Nova Scotia – Sep 17, 2014

DARTMOUTH – The owner of a Dartmouth business is turning to social media for help in identifying a customer who allegedly passed counterfeit money in her store on the weekend.

Tamara McKay, the owner of Gateway Meat Market on Main Street, said a woman paid for $120 in goods with three fake American $50 bills on Sept. 13.

The store was full of customers at the time, so now she’s asking on the company’s Facebook page if anybody can help them figure out who the woman is.

“Social media does wonders for the world these days, so anything to help find these [people] quicker before other small businesses are affected,” she said.

Police issued a warning this week about the phoney bills, which can be tougher to identify for Canadians who don’t often handle American currency.

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Investigators are also carefully reviewing surveillance video from Gateway and several other stores in the Halifax area.

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“To date, we have at least 25 reported incidents since last Wednesday and as recently as yesterday,” said Halifax District RCMP Const. Heidi Stevenson.

McKay said there are more than 30 cameras in her store, which could help in the search.

“We have excellent surveillance…so [the RCMP] can dig deeper,” she said, noting it’s possible the woman didn’t know she had counterfeit bills.

Stevenson said the RCMP is using surveillance video from affected businesses to identify potential suspects.

McKay said the $150 she’s out might not seen like a lot to a big store, but to a small business, it’s a big blow.

“We’re just one location, we employ 20 to 30 staff and every dollar here counts,” she said.

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She said she’s changing her store’s policies until the fake bills are out of circulation.

“In the meantime, we’re not taking American money just until this all mellows over and we find out the source of it,” she said.

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