A Scottish court has heard how a woman managed to dupe a cashier into accepting a hand-made fake £20 note that stated it was from the 'Santa Christmas Bank'.
The note featured a picture of Santa and his reindeer and promised to pay the bearer nothing. Santa himself was listed as chief operating officer with a North Pole address.
According to local newspaper The Daily Record, the fake note was so poor that it was not even referred to as a counterfeit in the charge but as a "piece of paper".
Yet on January 16, Stacy Rice, 27, from Dundee, managed to pay a cashier at a gym with the dodgy note and even got change from her purchase.
Rice was only caught when bosses at the Fitness First gym in Dundee spotted it was a fake.
Rice admitted fraud at Dundee Sheriff Court and was fined £75. The court heard she became desperate for money after delays in receiving welfare payments.
According to reports, Sheriff Alistair Duff said the most astonishing thing about the case was that Rice got away with the scheme.
Rick Brown from Fitness First told reporters that all staff have been given "refresher training" and have gone through security procedures "because we don't want this to happen again".