Avoiding funny money

Greg Webb Weatherford Democrat

WEATHERFORD — Phil Riddle

editor@weatherforddemocrat.com

A rash of cases involving counterfeit currency have popped up in Weatherford within the last two weeks.

The latest report came late last week when an employee of AMT Food Mart on Mineral Wells Highway told police an unidentified female attempted to pass off some funny money. The observant clerk noticed the $20 bill was fake and refused to accept it. The suspect left the store before shoe could be identified.

The case is the latest of several lately, including one in which a customer used a counterfeit $100 bill to pay his bill at a local Mexican food restaurant. There were three cases of counterfeit money reported from the South Main Street Sonic. One suspect, Kieren J. Wilson, 20, of Weatherford has been arrested.

Weatherford Police are investigating two different counterfeiting methods.

“This one (from the Mexiacn restaurant) appears to be different due to the money appearing to have been ‘washed.’” said Cpl. Wendy Field. ”In the Sonic investigation, the money appeared to have been printed.”

As to what has set off the recent spate of counterfeit cases, Field suggests a confluence of circumstances including readily available supplies and technology, along with the current economic situation.

“The technology is there,” she said. “We see people finding ways to print money, even counterfieting checks. That coincieds with the economy right now. There are lots of people looking for jobs or not getting the hours at work they need.”

Field said bills in the cases involving newly printed fake money were relatively easy to detect.

“What we’re seeing so far, they’re not real difficult to pick out.” She added the case of bill “washing” could be considered a more sophisticated attempt at forgery, since the original paper is still used.

According to the United States Secret Service, people can cut down their chances of being duped by fake money by knowing details to watch for.    

“Look at the money you receive,” says the government at www.secretservice.gov. “Compare a suspect note with a genuine note of the same denomination and series, paying attention to the quality of printing and paper characteristics. Look for differences, not similarities.”

Among the details to look for are differences in the bill portrait, the official seals, the border, the serial number and the paper.

“Genuine currency paper has tiny red and blue fibers embedded throughout,” the Secret Service says. “Often counterfeiters try to simulate these fibers by printing tiny red and blue lines on their paper. Close inspection reveals, however, that on the counterfeit note the lines are printed on the surface, not embedded in the paper. It is illegal to reproduce the distinctive paper used in the manufacturing of United States currency.”

Authrities also urge money handlers to look for altered bills.

The Secret Service warns paper currency is sometimes altered in an attempt to increase its face value. One common method is to glue numerals from higher denomination notes to the corners of lower denomination notes.

So what do the police tell local business people who suspect they’ve gotten counterfeit bills?

“Unfortunately, they’re going to have to pay closer attention,” Field said. “It could involve more training, especially in situations where it’s very busy and younger, less experienced people are taking money. They’ll have to put some policies in place to make sure they are checking the when they receive bills of a certain denomination.”

According to Field, most of the affected businesses already have such policies.

 “The reason we’ve been notified in these cases so far, is because they are doing what they need to do, that is, looking closely.”