However, an exception has to be made in the case of a Tennessee woman called Pamela Downs, who was caught trying to pass off what sound like possibly the most inept fake dollar bills ever. 

According to a report in local news outlet TimesNews, Downs also had a fairly inept excuse, having supposedly read an online report that said President Obama said she was allowed to print her own money. 

Oh dear. 

While the US dollar has some notoriety as one of the most-forged currencies in the world, it’s fair to say that Downs’ attempts at knocking off the design lacked sophistication. Her bid to pass off a fake $5 at a petrol station stalled when the clerk, unsurprisingly, noticed that something was awry as the bill “had been printed on regular computer paper and each side had been glued together but was falling apart”.

Worse, police officers subsequently found a $100 variant in her purse, printed in black and white and with the reverse side of the bill stuck on upside down.

One top tip for those considering counterfeiting as a career option would be to learn about imposition first.