13 June 2007: Always read the instructions

A grandmother nearly landed her 19-year-old grandson in court for counterfeiting, by sending him a fake 100-euro note which he tried to spend.

German Police arrested the student in a shop after a cashier spotted that the note was not real. He explained that the note had been sent to him by his grandmother to congratulate him on passing his school exams.

Nobody could understand why his granny would have sent him a forged banknote, but a phone call quickly cleared up the mystery.

In his excitement at receiving the money the teenager had missed an accompanying note in the envelope which said: "I will pay 100 euros into your bank account; here is a photocopy."