Funny money circulated in Darlington
Fake U.S. currency notes surfaced at several Darlington businesses over the Christmas holidays, including several $100 and $50 bills with altered graphics and “For Motion Picture Use Only” printed on the front and back.
Photos by Samantha Lyles
By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net
Several Darlington businesses got an unwelcome surprise from customers over the Christmas holidays when some patrons – intentionally or unwittingly – attempted to pay for their purchases with fake U.S. currency notes.
Employees at some of these targeted businesses, including the EZ Stop convenience store, Food Lion, and McDonalds, spotted the funny money, confiscated it, and called law enforcement. Another incident at the Darlington Walmart occurred during the holiday shopping rush, and a customer used seven fake $100 bills to purchase an iPad.
Maureen Valazak, an investigator with the Darlington Police Department Criminal Investigation Division, said that in many cases where counterfeit or fake money is passed, a quick inspection of the bills will reveal they are not genuine.
“Some of these have “For Motion Picture Use Only” printed on the front and back,” said Valazak, explaining that stacks of movie prop money can be purchased online for pennies per bill. “You can get them on Craig’s List or eBay.”
Valazak said that when customers try to pass obvious fakes, they often choose times when cashiers are overwhelmed and harried, gambling that the cashier won’t take the time to examine the bills or check them properly.
“Checkout lines are longer and cashiers are just trying to get people through the lines… Some people are not even looking (at the money). You can feel some of these bills and tell they’re fake. There is no watermark, no security strip. The paper is all wrong,” Valazak said.
Some of the false money confiscated in Darlington features comically bad graphics, like President Ulysses S. Grant smirking crookedly on the front of a $50, Benjamin Franklin sporting a coy smile on a fake $100, or bright pink Chinese lettering on both sides.
While the movie prop money is clearly marked and altered to instantly reveal it as false, some counterfeit cash is skillfully made and harder to detect.
Valazak said that business owners and their employees need training and practice to reliably spot counterfeit money. The Secret Service and U.S. Treasury Department advise the following methods to detect counterfeit bills:
• Hold a bill up to a light and look for a holograph of the face image on the bill. Both images should match. If the $100 bill has been bleached, the hologram will display an image of Abraham Lincoln, who appears on the $5 bills, instead of Benjamin Franklin.
• Looking at the bill through a light will also reveal a thin vertical strip containing text that spells out the bill’s denomination.
• Color-shifting ink: If you hold the new series bill (except the $5 note) and tilt it back and forth, please observe the numeral in the lower right hand corner as its color shifts from green to black and back.
• Watermark: Hold the bill up to a light to view the watermark in an unprinted space to the right of the portrait. The watermark can be seen from both sides of the bill since it is not printed on the bill but is imbedded in the paper.
• Security Thread: Hold the bill up to a light to view the security thread. You will see a thin imbedded strip running from top to bottom on the face of a banknote. In the $10 and $50 the security strip is located to the right of the portrait, and in the $5, $20 and $100, it is located just to the left of the portrait.
• Ultraviolet Glow: If the bill is held up to an ultraviolet light, the $5 bill glows blue; the $10 bill glows orange, the $20 bill glows green, the $50 bill glows yellow, and the $100 bill glows red – if they are authentic!
• Microprinting: There are minute microprintings on the security threads: the $5 bill has “USA FIVE” written on the thread; the $10 bill has “USA TEN” written on the thread; the $20 bill has “USA TWENTY” written on the thread; the $50 bill has “USA 50” written on the thread; and the $100 bill has the words “USA 100” written on the security thread. Microprinting can be found around the portrait as well as on the security threads.
• Fine Line Printing Patterns: Very fine lines have been added behind the portrait and on the reverse side scene to make it harder to reproduce.
• Comparison: Compare the feel and texture of the paper with other bills you know are authentic.
If you believe you have received a counterfeit bill, the U.S. Treasury advises you to do the following:
• Do not put yourself in danger.
• Do not return the bill to the passer.
• Delay the passer with some excuse, if possible.
• Observe the passer’s description – and their companions’ descriptions – and write down their vehicle license plate numbers if you can.
• Do not handle the counterfeit note. Place it inside a protective cover, a plastic bag, or envelope to protect it until you turn it over to your local law enforcement agency.
Remember that if a business accepts counterfeit money in exchange for goods or services, that business alone absorbs the financial loss. For cashiers, business owners, and anyone who accepts currency for goods or services, it’s worth a few extra moments to determine with reasonable certainty that the cash you are about to take is genuine.
