In the high-stakes environment of a Las Vegas casino, security teams are trained to spot the slightest irregularity. So, when a patron began paying for goods by tearing two-dollar bills off a perforated notepad, the alarms went off immediately.
The bills were crisp, the ink was perfect, but the delivery method was absurd. Money does not come in gummed pads like stationery. The security team concluded they were dealing with a brazen counterfeiter. They were half-right: the man was indeed brazen, but the suspect was Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple, and he was about to lead federal agents down a rabbit hole of technicalities and practical jokes.
A Suspicious Transaction in Las Vegas
The incident began when Wozniak, known for his eccentric humor, decided to use his unique currency at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. He handed over the bills, ripping them from a book he carried in his pocket. To the uninitiated, the cash looked like a high-quality home print job.
The casino staff, baffled by the perforated edges and the gum binding the bills together, confiscated the money and called the authorities. Wozniak was not arrested on the spot, but the machinery of federal law enforcement began to turn. The United States Secret Service, the agency tasked with protecting the President and fighting financial fraud, opened a file on the tech mogul.
The Loophole at the Bureau of Engraving
What the agents did not yet realize was that Wozniak had discovered a perfectly legal, albeit expensive, hobby. He was not printing money in his basement; he was buying it directly from the government. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing sells uncut sheets of currency to collectors. Wozniak would purchase these massive sheets of two-dollar bills—a denomination often treated with superstition and rarity—and take them to a local printer friend in his hometown.
The printer would use a commercial machine to perforate the lines between the bills and then gum the tops of the stacks together, transforming legal tender into what looked like a scratchpad. When Wozniak told people he “printed them himself,” he was technically telling a truth about the binding process, even if he was intentionally misleading them about the origin of the currency.
The Laser Safety Officer with an Eyepatch
The investigation culminated in a surreal interaction between Wozniak and the Secret Service. When the agents eventually caught up with him to question the legitimacy of his cash, Wozniak decided to test the limits of their observation skills. During the interrogation, the agents asked for his identification.
Wozniak reached into his wallet and produced a card that he had made himself on a high-end dye-sublimation printer. It identified him not as a tech executive, but as a “Laser Safety Officer” for the “Department of Defiance.” The photo on the ID showed Wozniak wearing an eyepatch. Incredibly, the agent took the card, examined it, and handed it back without noting that it was an obvious fabrication. The money was eventually declared genuine, and Wozniak was left free to continue his prank, having successfully proved that sometimes, reality is stranger than a counterfeit.
In a Vegas casino, security panicked when a patron tore $2 bills off a gummed pad.
The cash looked real, but the method was absurd.
Security seized the money, suspecting a counterfeiter.
They were half-right: the man was Steve Wozniak, Apple’s co-founder…🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/P73lIs7kUo
— Fascinating True Stories (@FascinatingTrue) December 6, 2025