The police here arrested two enterprising local men last week and charged them with passing thousands of dollars of counterfeit $20 bills around town. The men, ages 19 and 20, were caught with the fake money and the equipment for making the money. It was the wrong shade of green and had the wrong designs on it, but their scheme seemed to work, for at least a while. I think they might have had longer success had they gone to other cities to pass the bills. I am amazed that they were able to pass so many bills without people noticing the poor quality of the money. I guess people don’t pay as close attention as I thought they would.
Our two local guys reminded me of some shop lifters I heard of in the news who used the same method and the same get away car for multiple thefts from multiple big box stores. They always left through the fire doors of stores, and the police just started to watch the fire doors and surprised the thieves and the get away driver.
How do people come to ignore the poor chances of getting away with criminal activity? It seems to me that, eventually, most people get caught, whether at the local or national level.
What do you think makes for a successful crook? Have you ever known a real crook? How do they fool themselves?
Trail Baboon 