FUNNY MONEY MAKING THE ROUNDS

Some coun­ter­feit bills have been show­ing up in area banks and busi­nesses recently.

Defi­ance Police have inves­ti­gated mul­ti­ple reports of coun­ter­feit $20 bills. Busi­nesses in Pauld­ing County were also alerted recently of cir­cu­lat­ing coun­ter­feit bills after sev­eral busi­ness, par­tic­u­larly gas sta­tions, reported them.

Mid­west Com­mu­nity Fed­eral Credit Union has reported three coun­ter­feit bill inci­dents just since mid-August.

Police say that sus­pected bills are sent to the U.S. Secret Ser­vice, either by the police depart­ment or the finan­cial insti­tu­tion, to deter­mine their valid­ity. If the money is found to be coun­ter­feit it remains with the Secret Ser­vice, oth­er­wise it is returned.

They say iden­ti­fy­ing coun­ter­feit bills often depends on the series of the bill and its secu­rity fea­tures, but com­mon ways are to look for water marks and the bill’s secu­rity strip as well as the qual­ity of the paper.

Police also say that those coun­ter­feit marker pens aren’t always reli­able. They only check the paper qual­ity, and some coun­ter­feit­ers use a type of spray that reacts with the marker pen, mak­ing it appear to be legit­i­mate. At the same time, some­thing could get on a legit­i­mate bill which would make the pen show it as fake.