A man reportedly swindled a UW-Madison student out of two expensive pairs of pants during a transaction at Five Guys on State Street last week.
After the student posted on Facebook’s Marketplace Community advertising designer jeans for sale, the suspect, who claimed to be from Baraboo, offered $100 for each pair. The student accepted his offer and the two arranged to meet at Five Guys Friday morning, according to a Madison Police Department incident report.
“At first blush the negotiated sale appeared to come off without a hitch,” MPD Public Information Officer Joel DeSpain said in the report. “The buyer showed up, handed over the Benjamin Franklins, took possession of the jeans, and ‘wasted no time in leaving the scene,’ according to an investigating officer's report.”
However, upon inspecting the bills more carefully, the student noticed a warning on both bills that read, “FOR MOTION PICTURE USE ONLY.”
The student alerted police after reading the disclaimer. The investigating officer noted that the cash was “convincing enough in appearance and texture to deceive the casual observer."
Although the student was left “without pants or profit,” DeSpain said he likely learned a valuable “out of classroom lesson in increasing one's business acumen without losing one's pants.”
The suspect is wanted for fraud.
