Driver Pulls Over After Seeing Money On The Side Of The Road. Then They Get A Stern Warning: ‘I Wouldn’t Pick It Up’

A man who spotted $10 dollar bills on the side of the road prompted a debate in the comments section of a social media post on the not-so-lucky find. Dre (@__itsdree) published a video showing off the money on social media, but some who replied cautioned commuters against retrieving strange cash from either the road or resting on the exterior of their vehicles.

“Ahh, [expletive], it's my lucky day. Now one,” he says, referencing the cash note on the ground. Following this, he pans his lens to the left to reveal another tenner on the side of the road. Dre believed he had hit the jackpot and exited his vehicle on the lookout for even more of the scattered wealth.

However, that all changed upon further scrutiny, which he explained in a caption for his post. “I thought I was about to be rich. Got off the ramp and was in traffic and seen dollar bills scattered across the ground,” he explained. But he soon realized the bills were fakes. “Got out and rushed to pick them up and came to find out it was just prop money,” he wrote.

Fortune, Or Averted Calamity?

Folks in the comments section of his post shared their own anecdotes about serendipitously finding cash while out and about. One person remarked that one day when they were “hurting for money," they ended up finding $100 on a grocery store floor. The financial reprieve helped them pay for food and gas for three weeks. Another individual shared a picture of a card that had been tossed out. It contained a $50 bill, along with a signature from a family member.

But there were others who warned Dre against picking up errant bills on the floor. “Kidnappers definitely would’ve gotten my [expletive],” one quipped. Whereas another urged Dre and others reading the comments in response to his post to stay away. “Be careful, it can be laced. I wouldn’t pick it up,” they said.

Fentanyl-Laced Bills Ploy

There have been instances where law enforcement officials have cautioned individuals to take caution when picking up folded bills. That’s because there may be bad actors placing the potent opioid fentanyl inside of them. CBS News wrote that in Tennessee, “the Perry County Sheriff’s Office … [said] someone found a … dollar bill on the floor of a local gas station on … [two] occasions.” In both instances, the money contained a white powder, which, when tested, turned out to be methamphetamine and fentanyl.

A message from the sheriff's office stated, "This is very dangerous, folks! Please share and educate your children to not pick up money.” According to the DEA, fentanyl is a “synthetic opioid” that was developed for pain management that is “100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin.”

Similar reports emerged online in 2022, when the Lewis County, West Virginia Sheriff’s Office issued a PSA also exhorting people to abstain from picking tightly packed bills up.

Why Booby Trap Money With Opioids?

A 2025 Medium article also covered this purported phenomenon, along with horrifying claims—that the laced money is being used to fool unsuspecting folks into grabbing it. Upon touching the laced money, the unsuspecting victim will become woozy or unconscious, and kidnappers/traffickers place them into a vehicle and take them away.

The same piece writes that these spiked bills are also placed onto drivers' windshields, door handles, or tucked into the car’s window slits. Then, stalkers wait nearby to see someone grab the money, and when they begin to stumble or pass out, they’re then nabbed.

But simply touching the fentanyl and going unconscious is highly unlikely, due to the fact that fentanyl is reportedly not absorbed through the skin. As Science Insights writes, "Touching fentanyl powder or pills with your bare skin is extremely unlikely to cause an overdose or any symptoms at all. There has not been a single confirmed case of someone becoming ill from brief, incidental skin contact with fentanyl, according to the American College of Medical toxicology."

That’s because, as Science Insights writes, “skin is a remarkably effective barrier, and fentanyl powder sitting on the surface of your hand doesn’t cross that barrier in any meaningful amount during brief contact.”

However, inhalation or ingestion is an entirely different story. The outlet says that “if fentanyl powder becomes airborne and you breathe it in, the drug reaches your bloodstream.” This can then culminate in rapid consequences, and Science Insights says that the “distinction” between touching the powder and unsettling it into the air in front of your face “matters.” Adding that “if you encounter a pile of loose fentanyl powder and disturb it in a way that sends particles into the air, that’s a real exposure concern.”

So, if there are indeed folks lacing cash with fentanyl powder, then the hope is folks unfold the bill and inhale the drugs tucked away in its fold.

Motor1 has reached out to Dre via TikTok direct message and the DEA via email for further comment. We will update this story if either party responds.