Area Businesses – Be On the Lookout for Counterfeit Cash

If you own a business or plan on excepting some cash...in particular...hundred dollar bills...you better check them out because a lot of counterfeit cash has been passed around the community lately.

According to FOX 17 and Police in Newaygo County, there has been an uptick in counterfeit bills being used at local business's in Fremont, Michigan as well as neighboring cities.

Make sure and hold up your money to a light before accepting it. There is a holograph image that should match the image of your bill in question as well as the thin vertical strip that will spell out a bill's denomination.

Sometimes counterfeiters will bleach a bill so if a different President is on the hologram than on the face of the bill...you my friend are holding a counterfeit bill.

Here are some things to watch out for when trying to identify a counterfeit bill according to Fremont Police:

If you tilt a new series bill back and forth you will see the color with change from green to black and then back to green. The color shifting ink happens on all bills except the five dollar bill.

Make sure to hold the bill up to the light to find the watermark that is embedded in the paper. It is visible from both sides.

There is a security thread that you can also spot by holding the bill into the light. You will find on $10 and $50 bills the strip is to the right of the President and on $5, $20 and $100 the strip is to the left of the President.

Here are the color codes when using an ultraviolet light to check your authentic currency:

• $5 - glows blue
• $10 - glows orange
• $20 - glows green
• $50 - glows yellow
• $100 - glows red

The security threads have micro printing that tells the bill's denomination:

• $5 - USA FIVE
• $10 - USA TEN
• $20 - USA TWENTY
• $50 - USA 50
• $100 - USA 100

Fine lines are on the back of the Presidents face on each bill to make them much harder to reproduce. You can actually feel the difference so check the feel of the other bills you have to compare a bill you are suspicious of.