Hikers lured onto dangerous cliffs after 'yahoo' throws fake money over waterfall

$100 bills blowing through the air
(Image credit: Getty)

Hikers in Oregon have been tempted to stray off-trail onto dangerous cliffs after someone threw fake $100 bills over a waterfall last week.

The incident happened at Multnomah Falls in Oregon, which is the most visited natural recreation site in the Pacific Northwest, receiving over two million visitors every year. Hikers mistook the counterfeit bills for real money, and word began to spread about the opportunity to (literally) grab a quick buck.

"Because it was causing quite a stir, and fearing that someone might make a fatal mistake, the Forest Service posted signs and staffed a ranger at the upper viewing platform," said the local police department in a statement.

As Fox News reports, Portland Mountain Rescue climbers rappelled down from the brink of the falls on Saturday to retrieve the fake bills and remove the temptation. Team members later posted photos of the operation on Facebook, blaming "some yahoo" for throwing it from the falls and endangering lives.

The bills recovered seem to be props intended for use on movie sets, and are marked with the words 'for motion picture purposes'.

"The sheriff and the Forest Service rangers asked us to collect the cash before members of the public got hurt chasing easy money," added the rescue team.

Cat Ellis
Editor

Cat is the editor of Advnture, She’s been a journalist for 15 years, and was fitness and wellbeing editor on TechRadar before joining the Advnture team in 2022. She’s a UK Athletics qualified run leader, and in her spare time enjoys nothing more than lacing up her shoes and hitting the roads and trails (the muddier, the better), usually wearing at least two sports watches.