#ThanksObama: Woman Printed Counterfeit Money After Falling For Online Hoax
A Tennessee woman is in trouble after police say she printed counterfeit money, but that’s not the only detail in this story that has it going viral on social media. Raw Story reports that 45-year-old Pamela Downs fell for an apparent online hoax, which led her to print the fraudulent notes.
The Kingsport woman was arrested on Sunday after a convenience store clerk turned her in to authorities. She had allegedly used a $5 bill that looked suspicious to him. No photos of the counterfeit money have been released at this time, but a description was given by police. Apparently when they tracked the woman down, she allowed them to search her purse. That is where they found a black-and-white printed $100 bill with the backside glued on upside-down. Her reaction to getting caught red-handed revealed that she knew she was printing fake money.
“I don’t give a ****, all these other b*tches get to print money so I can too.”
Pamela Downs was referring to what she had read on the internet. She reportedly read that President Obama had passed a new law allowing people to print money in their homes. Police searched the woman’s home after her arrest and found that she had put together quite a counterfeiting operation.
She had printing materials, paper and other items, along with fake money that totaled close to $50,000. However, according to the description of the money given by authorities, it wasn’t passable as U.S. currency. The Times News reports that Downs was charged with criminal simulation and counterfeiting.
No details have been released about where she had read that President Obama legalized home-printing of U.S. dollars, but the story is going viral nonetheless. Hopefully this lesson has taught her that she can’t believe everything that she reads online.
Pamela Downs isn’t the only person to make the news after falling for an internet hoax. Numerous people have been given media attention after falling for notorious catfishing schemes on social media, for example. Police departments all over the country also fall victim to swatting hoaxes that originate from online trolling. Even famous people fall for online hoaxes. For example, Bristol Palin recently fell for a viral hoax that claimed an amputee war vet was passed over for an award for Caitlyn Jenner. Fortunately not many online hoaxes end in the mass printing of counterfeit money. Furthermore, no other reports have surfaced indicating that anybody else has fallen for a similar hoax.
[Image via Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images, Kingsport Police mugshot.]
