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LIBERTY TWP. — An afternoon of selling cookies at the Yankee Road Kroger was profitable for Troop 45897, minus a fake $10 bill that someone used to purchase a box of treats.

"It's disappointing," said Twyla Ens, the troop cookie mom who discovered the counterfeit bill. "It's for such a good cause."

Mothers and about 11 girls sold cookies from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23. The scouts handled the money themselves, making change with a smile. Ens said when she returned home to count the cash, totaling about $150, she knew right away when she touched the bill that it was fake.

"It was a little bit smaller and it just didn't feel right," she said. "But you know if it had just been one bill in my wallet, I might not have noticed it. But because I was handling a lot of money, I could tell."

The "maker" of the bill had taken the time to "tape it up and make it look beat up," she said.

Ens called the Butler County Sheriff's Office and a deputy came to her Lynch Lane residence right away. He confirmed her suspicions, the bill was counterfeit.

Sgt. Monte Mayer, spokesman for the sheriff's office, said the fake bill has been turned over to the Secret Service.

"It remains under investigation," Mayer said.

Ens said detectives told her the person who passed the funny money may also be a victim.

"They may have gotten it in change some where and didn't even realize it," she said.

There hasn't been a meeting since the incident, so the scouts are not yet aware of they were victims.

"Maybe we are going to have to teach our girls how to spot counterfeit money," Ens said with a laugh.

Future fund-raising money might go to the purchase of a marker commonly used in stores to check for fake money.