Police in New Jersey say a man is passing fake bills that aren't being caught by counterfeit detection markers.
At least two pharmacies in the Wyckoff have been targeted.
Police say the suspect is bleaching $5 bills so that all of the printing is removed. The bleached bill is then reprinted as a $100 bill. Because the bill is on the original paper used by the federal mint, the marker indicates that the bill is good.
The clerk at one pharmacy thought one of the bills was phony, but the man took off before he could be stopped.
Another Wyckoff pharmacy had a counterfeit $100 bill that was not detected until it got to the bank.
Police say the use of counterfeit currency has been on the rise because of the ability for the bills to pass the simple counterfeit detection marker test that many merchants use.
Business owners are being advised to go to the Secret Service website to print out color photos to assist in detecting fake cash.
There are other signs. When the bills are bleached, they do not bleach out the watermark. A phony $100 bill will have an Abraham Lincoln watermark if it was originally $5, instead of the Benjamin Franklin watermark on a real $100 bill. Bleaching also does not remove the security thread in the paper. A real $100 bill has a vertical line that reads "USA 100" when held up to light. A $5 bill has a security thread that reads "USA FIVE" when held to light. The 100 in the lower left corner on the front of a real $100 bill has micro printing in the numbers that read "100USA". This wording is illegible in a counterfeit bill. There are more suggestions that can be found on the government website including the use of an ultraviolet light.
The suspect who tried to pass off the bills at the pharmacies is described as a young Hispanic male in his late teens or early twenties. The suspect was seen getting into a red/maroon colored minivan with Florida license plates with another man.
In this current case, the thief makes a small purchase using the $100 bill, to get back a significant amount of change.
Any business taking a bill that they deem suspicious should keep the bill and call the police.
Wednesday, June 19 2013 10:01 PM EDT2013-06-20 02:01:02 GMT
Invision/AP photo
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