Phony $100 bills show up on island
Published 8:00 pm Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Police find bogus bill at Freeland bank
South End businesses and residents should be on the lookout for phony Franklins.
The next time someone offers to pay with a $100 bill, check it over with great attention to detail. That’s the word from the Island County Sheriff’s Office, because four counterfeit bills at least have shown up since the new year began.
A 45-year-old Freeland woman has been arrested and booked on suspicion of passing bad bills in Clinton, but there may be other bogus bills still floating around.
On Jan. 2, the Sheriff’s Office responded to the Freeland branch of Whidbey Island Bank and recovered a $100 counterfeit bill deposited in a night drop.
Since then, at least three other bad bills have been recovered.
A real $100 bill features a portrait of Ben Franklin; a faint image of Franklin, called a watermark, can be seen to the right. On the fake bill, the watermark shows Lincoln, leading investigators to think it was a $5 bill that had been washed and re-printed as a counterfeit.
South End businesses have been warned about the counterfeit bills.
On the door of Neil’s Clover Patch Cafe in Bayview, workers have posted a sign saying the business will no longer accept $100 bills.
“We don’t want to take a chance,” said owner Neil Colburn.
The U.S. Secret Service is responsible for tracking counterfeit money, and advises business owners and employees to look for differences, not similarities, when handling suspicious bills. Some clues to bear in mind:
• Portrait — The genuine portrait appears lifelike and stands out distinctly from the background. The counterfeit portrait is usually lifeless and flat. Details merge into the background which is often too dark or mottled.
• Federal Reserve, Treasury seals — On a genuine bill, the sawtooth points of the Federal Reserve and Treasury seals are clear, distinct and sharp. The counterfeit seals may have uneven, blunt, or broken sawtooth points.
• Border — The fine lines in the border of a genuine bill are clear and unbroken. On a counterfeit, the lines in the outer margin and scrollwork may be blurred and indistinct.
• Serial numbers — Genuine serial numbers have a distinctive style and are evenly spaced. The serial numbers are printed in the same ink color as the Treasury seal. On a counterfeit, the serial numbers may differ in color or shade of ink from the Treasury seal. The numbers may not be uniformly spaced or aligned.
• Paper — Genuine currency paper has tiny red and blue fibers embedded throughout. 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.
