According to York Regional Police, which investigated the fraud, a possible buyer approached the restaurant owner on March 3 saying they wanted to pay cash for his business.

Problem was, they claimed the money had been chemically altered to look like blank paper in order to safely ship it out of an African nation.

The victim, police say, was told the cash had to be treated with a special chemical to restore it to its original condition. Convinced this to be true, the victim handed over $165,000 in cash to pay for the fake currency to be restored.

"There was a bit of a process that was done" in an effort to turn the paper into currency, explains Const. Marina Orlovski, York police media relations officer. "There was to be more of a process that was to happen afterward, but by then they had already realized that the 'money' was not money, it was blank paper."

Recognizing he'd been hoodwinked, the restaurant owner turned to police and an investigation was launched.

Peel Regional Police executed a search warrant on the suspects' home April 18 and recovered materials used in the fraud.

A 37-year-old woman was arrested that day as a result. Her 34-year-old husband turned himself in to police April 24. Both are charged with fraud over $5,000 and possession of instruments of forgery.

People should be very cautious when a deal seems too good to be true, Orlovski says. She suggests people spend some time looking into the backgrounds of others involved in any sort of business deal.

"If they're legitimate, they won't mind," she says. "You should be finding out who they are, where they come from, what kind of businesses they've been involved in, and really just doing a bit of investigative work on your own, because it is your business and it is your hard-earned money."