A group of counterfeiters used faux $100 bills to buy expensive electronics – including highly-coveted Beats by Dr. Dre headphones – from box stores in at least two states then later returned the goods for full cash refunds, said police.
The scheme played out in at least 14 Walmart, Target and Home Depot stores from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania to Warren County, New Jersey, said Bethlehem (Pennsylvania) police. Surveillance video captured one "purchase" at a Hanover Township, Pennsylvania Target store on July 12, said police.
Investigators said the men would use faux $100s to buy the electronics and take real money as change. The men would then go to another box store where they would return the goods for a full, real, cash refund, said investigators.
"They're buying merchandise and then they're going out of town, usually, to another store and returning those items for a full refund," said Bethlehem Police Sgt. Rick Blake.
Police nabbed two New York men but Bethlehem police said two others caught on surveillance video remained at large Tuesday.
The total amount of money netted from the scheme could top $10,000.
Many of the stores getting hit didn't use the marker pen, said investigators.
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Police asked anyone who thinks they might have fake money to take it to a bank or local police.
