Counterfeit Bills - Be Careful

Counterfeit money is making a big hit in the Tri-Cities. At our office we are using a Counterfeit Detector Pen to check all bills. Besides using the pens there are a number of ways to tell if a bill is ‘good’:

• Know Your Money - From US Secret Service
• Counterfeit Protection - How to tell a good bill

What to do if you have counterfeit currency
Since the consequences for passing counterfeit currency include fines up to $5,000 or imprisonment up to 15 years, you need to be careful. If you have a suspicious bill:

• Write your initials on the back so you can identify it later.
• On a separate sheet of paper write in detail how you got it:
  • Who gave it to you.
  • Where you got it.
  • When you got it.
• Handle it as little as possible to preserve any fingerprints.
• Contact the local police.

Here is the latest news story from KVEW TV:

Kennewick police say they may know who’s been passing counterfeit money throughout the Tri-Cities. Banks and businesses have had trouble with the phony money for a few weeks now. And the bills aren’t the standard fifty and 100 dollar bills. Crooks are faking tens, fives, and ones as well. Yokes in Pasco took a fake bill in last week.

“It actually made it all the way to our bank,” said store manager Darrell Toombs. “I didn’t get to see it personally. It must’ve been pretty good though because it got through the cashier and myself as well.”

Anyone who has a fake bill on them loses out on that money. Therefore, Yokes is out twenty bucks. If an individual accidentally comes across a fake bill as well, that person is out whatever the dollar amount is. Banks say essentially counterfeit crooks end up punishing innocent people.

Knox says all three Tri-City police departments are working together, along with the U.S. Secret Service, to arrest those making the bills. Police say they hope to arrest people in the coming weeks.

Of course criminals are not the brightest. Here is a story where the police in Arizona stopped a counterfeit crime ring. The group gave themselves away when they sent a printer in for repair that had an unfinished sheet of counterfeit bills stuck in its mechanism. The bills were of average quality but they would use the counterfeit money to buy expensive items at a local Wal-Mart from a cash register staffed by an accomplice. The purchases later would be returned to the store for cash. Police seized $56,000 when they raided the members’ homes and another $160,000 is believed to have been spent.