Counterfeit money reappearing in Port Clinton
PORT CLINTON - An unusually high number of reports of counterfeit currency has surfaced in the area recently, leading law enforcement to turn to social media in hopes of educating the public on how to spot the fake bills.
Police investigated several of the recent incidents that occurred at Port Clinton High School. On two separate occasions in recent weeks, the school received counterfeit $20 bills during home basketball games. In another incident late last month, the school cafeteria received a counterfeit $10.
Hoping to combat the counterfeiters and prevent further spread of the fake bills, Detective Sgt. Corbin Carpenter passed along educational materials on the subject to school officials, along with a small UV flashlight that can be used to find the colored security thread inside bills $5 and larger. Under UV light, the security thread in a $5 bill glows blue, a $10 bill orange, a $20 bill green, a $50 bill yellow, and a $100 bill pink.
Carpenter also shared the information on Facebook to alert area consumers and business owners, and demonstrated how to use the UV light in a brief video. He said the UV light can be more accurate than markers designed to identify counterfeit bills.
According to Carpenter, the fake bills in both cases at the school appeared to be scanned photocopies of authentic bills and lacked several security measures such as watermarks, security thread and color shifting ink. One of the bills also had a white strip on a back edge, as if it was not trimmed properly.
Similar counterfeit bills have been popping up at area gas stations as well.
Hy-Miler on West Fremont Road received a fake $10 bill with the same serial number as the one used at the school within the past several weeks. Another Hy-Miler location on East Perry Street received fake $100 and $20 bills on separate occasions, one recently and the other in late December.
Friendship Food Stores/Marathon on East Perry Street received a fake $20 bill in the past few weeks, however the serial number was not obtained.
Most recently, four counterfeit $100 bills were reported to police on Tuesday. Two of them were passed at Wendy’s on East Perry and the other two at Pat’s Party Mart on Fulton Street.
In that case, the bills were collected by police and an investigation is ongoing. The bills in this incident did not appear to be similar to the photocopies in the earlier case.
In some instances, the bills were first identified as counterfeit by bank employees, who notified the respective business, then forwarded the bills to the U.S. Secret Service.
The Secret Service, which was originally founded in the late 1800s for the distinct purpose of suppressing counterfeiting of U.S. currency, has on its website a series of tips for spotting fake bills and advice on what to do in the event that you receive one.
If you are passed a counterfeit bill, the Secret Service advises not to return it to the passer. Delay them if possible and observe the person’s description, whether they had any companions, and a license plate number if a vehicle is used. Limit handling of the suspect bill and contact local police.
Knowingly using counterfeit money is a felony offense in all 50 states.
jstinchcom@gannett.com
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Twitter: @JonDBN