A counterfeit currency blitz that quietly began in the fall of 2025 has now emerged as one of the most striking fake cash busts of early 2026, with investigators tying a string of bogus $100 bills to 12 In‑N‑Out restaurants across Southern California. Police say the scheme relied on quick hits, small orders and convincing bills, turning a classic fast‑food stop into a testing ground for high‑quality counterfeits before the operation finally unraveled.
Authorities now allege that two women from Long Beach used the same pattern at locations from Los Angeles County to Orange County, slipping counterfeit $100 notes across the counter and walking away with both food and real change. What looked like routine late‑night burger runs in Sept. and Oct. 2025 has become a case study in how low‑dollar transactions can add up to a serious financial crime wave once investigators start connecting the receipts.
The fall 2025 blitz that blindsided In‑N‑Out
According to investigators, the pattern first surfaced in Glendale when staff at an In‑N‑Out noticed something off about a large bill used on a relatively small order. The Glendale Police Financial Crime Detectives later traced that early report back to activity that began around Oct. 21, when someone passed fake currency at a local restaurant, a detail that helped anchor the broader timeline of the scam across Glendale. By the time detectives realized they were looking at a coordinated operation rather than a one‑off bad bill, the suspects had already hit multiple locations.
Police say the same In‑N‑Out restaurants that built their reputation on speed and consistency became ideal targets for quick, low‑profile fraud. In one case, officers reported that the pair focused on an In‑N‑Out location in Glendale on Oct. 25, then returned to the same city five days later, a pattern that helped the Glendale Police Financial Crime Detectives link separate incidents to the same suspects at the In‑N‑Out restaurants. What began as a local concern in one city soon expanded into a regional investigation as more stores reported similar losses.
Two Long Beach suspects and a dozen Southern California hits
As the case widened, Authorities in Southern California publicly tied the scheme to approximately a dozen In‑N‑Out locations, describing a methodical run through busy drive‑thrus and late‑night dining rooms. Investigators now say that 12 In‑N‑Out restaurants in Southern California were ultimately identified as targets, a tally that underscores how quickly a mobile crew can exploit a popular chain before patterns emerge for Authorities. The geographic spread, from Los Angeles County into Orange County, highlighted how a single counterfeit crew can ripple across an entire region of Southern California in a matter of weeks…