News 12 at 11 o'clock -- March 16, 2010

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. -- For Taryn Marks and 5-year-old Olivia Attaway it was just another Saturday selling Girl Scout cookies in front of Lowe's until they were given a fake $20 bill for cookies.

Taryn, is quick to tell you she has sold, "Seven-hundred and fifty boxes," of cookies, 50 more than her goal of 700 cookies, she said.

Olivia said she sold 200 this year, which is 100 more than her goal, meaning the both of them should receive badges.

Taryn said she loves Girl Scouts for the arts and crafts, but mainly for the, "Badges of course!" she said.

But on Saturday March 6, someone paid the girls in Troop 5295 with a counterfeit $20 bill, something Taryn said she never has seen before.

Taryn's mother, Suman Marks-Johnson, said nobody knew the bill was fake until the money was checked with a marker, so they didn't know how many boxes the funny money was used to buy or who used it.

Once the girls found out, young Olivia said she wasn't happy and Taryn said she didn't understand why anyone would use fake money. Marks-Johnson said the Girl Scouts must sell around 50 boxes of cookies to make $20.

Now the counterfeit money is in North Augusta Public Safety's hands, with numerous brown marks on it, one of them done by Marks-Johnson.

Lt. Tim Pearson of North Augusta Public Safety said the fact there are more than one mark on the bill means it has been used before.

"I think unfortunately what people need to understand is that there are some counterfeit bills out there," he said.

When Lt. Pearson showed News 12 the counterfeit bill it was easy to spot the differences between the fake and the real money. There wasn't a watermark on the bill and there was a circle surrounding President Andrew Jackson unlike the newer, real bill.

Though the bill is fake and was used, doesn't mean the person knew they were using fake money to buy the cookies, Lt. Pearson said.

"It's reaching in their pocket or just going up and getting some change from somewhere," he said. "Then they turn around and pull it out, go to pay the cashier and not have any idea."

Even if the person didn't know, it still left the girls without the money and the cookies, which is what upsets Marks-Johnson.

"The fact that they (Girl Scouts) worked so hard for that money and the fact that somebody has money out there that was counterfeit and takes from troop profit is upsetting," she said.

But all is well now because the Jim Bush Flower Shop in North Augusta donated $20 to replace what the Girl Scouts lost, Marks-Johnson said.

Taryn said she received a "goal getter" badge for reaching her goal of 700 cookies sold.

Lt. Pearson said there have been four reported instances of counterfeit money so far this year. In 2009, there were 15 of them, which is higher than the amount of them in 2008, he said.