Rancho Cucamonga crooks use counterfeit money to fleece Girl Scouts

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif., March 4 (UPI) -- Two California criminals used counterfeit money to rob the cookie jar of a Rancho Cucamonga Girl Scout troop.

The crooks used fake cash to buy cookies from high school sophomores Katelyn and Tari on Saturday outside of a Stater Brothers. During the incident, a man and woman used phony $50 bills to pay for the baked goods and then asked for change within minutes of each other.

"The girls are heartbroken," troop leader Cheryl Williams told ABC Local. "Because they do trust, this is a life lesson for them. (The girls) used the counterfeit pen on the money, and it worked.”

In order to help stop further thefts, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Teresa McMahon taught the troop a lesson about how to identify counterfeit cash on Monday.

“The difference is that if you look at the faces, they’re all the same here, and here you can actually tell by the shapes of their faces that they’re completely different,” McMahon told CBS Local.

The troop lost around $200 during the theft and the girls are liable for the money. “When you do put yourself out there, you are always going to have to double check,” Tari said.

[ABC Local] [CBS Local]