HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – Phony money is going around the Bay area and authorities want to warn consumers and businesses to be on the lookout.

A local man said the counterfeit money looked so real, he was fooled by it. Marc Tesario was selling his IPhone 6 Plus on a popular app called Offer Up. He was contacted by a man. They met up and made the exchange in the parking lot at a Burger King.

Tesario said he had a gut feeling something wasn’t right. He checked the cash with a special marker, designed to indicate a fake, but it didn’t. Tesario said the money even felt real.

He noticed something was funny about the serial numbers when he got in his car.

“When we got in the car, that’s when I noticed the bills were all the same, the exact same. And that’s when I got out of the car to go get him again he took off on the motorcycle,” said Tesario.

The man got away with the phone.

Several stores in Brandon won’t take the fifties and hundreds because they’ve been scammed.

Secret Service agents said they’re seeing an increase in counterfeit cases around the Bay area.