Whether you’re in a business or selling cookies for a good cause you always have to watch out for counterfeit bills. In this story girl scouts raising money came across a fake $10 bill.

LIBERTY TWP. — An afternoon of selling cookies at the Yankee Road Kroger was profitable for Troop 45897, minus a fake $10 bill that someone used to purchase a box of treats.

“It’s disappointing,” said Twyla Ens, the troop cookie mom who discovered the counterfeit bill. “It’s for such a good cause.”

Mothers and about 11 girls sold cookies from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23. The scouts handled the money themselves, making change with a smile. Ens said when she returned home to count the cash, totaling about $150, she knew right away when she touched the bill that it was fake.

“It was a little bit smaller and it just didn’t feel right,” she said. “But you know if it had just been one bill in my wallet, I might not have noticed it. But because I was handling a lot of money, I could tell.”

The “maker” of the bill had taken the time to “tape it up and make it look beat up,” she said.

Ens called the Butler County Sheriff’s Office and a deputy came to her Lynch Lane residence right away. He confirmed her suspicions, the bill was counterfeit.

Sgt. Monte Mayer, spokesman for the sheriff’s office, said the fake bill has been turned over to the Secret Service.

“It remains under investigation,” Mayer said.

Ens said detectives told her the person who passed the funny money may also be a victim.

“They may have gotten it in change some where and didn’t even realize it,” she said.

There hasn’t been a meeting since the incident, so the scouts are not yet aware of they were victims.

“Maybe we are going to have to teach our girls how to spot counterfeit money,” Ens said with a laugh.

Future fund-raising money might go to the purchase of a marker commonly used in stores to check for fake money.

Over the past few years there have been countless reports of counterfeit bills being used in mainstream and local shops. The rise of counterfeit bills doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon but with a counterfeit detector you don’t have to worry because it is the best defense from these bills. The latest report comes from York County where several $100 bills where used at a local convenience store.

WAVY

York-Poquoson Sheriff’s investigators need the public’s help finding a man believed to be passing counterfeit money. Earlier this month, a man was captured on surveillance tape passing several fake $100 bills at a convenience store. “Several of the bills had the same serial number on them,” investigators said in a news release.

In some counterfeit cases, it’s an honest mistake, but Sgt. Dennis Ivey told WAVY.com, the suspect in this case was likely a professional. “When those are the only bills you pass and are not mixed in with real cash, that shows he wanted to get rid of those in exchange for tangible items,” he said.

The suspect bought a Western Union money order and cash card, Ivey said. He said no other business had been hit in connection to this case, but warned clerks and mangers to be prepared and patient in order to spot bogus bills. That’s why Christine Crawford, a clerk at a tobacco shop, has a counterfeit detection pen next to her register. “It’s the biggest weapon for me,” she told WAVY.com, “I haven’t gotten any yet, but if I do, I check everything,” she added.

It’s the attitude Ivey urges all clerks and business owners to have. “It’s just taking the time to really examine them and 9 times out of 10 you can tell if they’re counterfeit.”

The counterfeit bills circulating are a time bomb to anyone who deals with cash and the only defense is a counterfeit pen. No one knows where or when counterfeit bills will show up next, as Christine Crawford, the tobacco shop clerk, said “It’s the biggest weapon for me” all it takes is one swipe from the counterfeit detector pen to defend yourself from losing your profits over fake money that is circulating.

Counterfeit money, while still amounting to less than one percent of U.S. currency in circulation, is growing more prevalent. Forgers are using home computers and other common technology to manufacture convincing counterfeit folding money. According to USA Today, there has been a steady rise in counterfeiting in the US since the late 90’s. Continue Reading »

Know Your Money!!
During the American Civil War, one-third to one-half of the nation’s currency in circulation was fake. By 1865, the necessity of enforcement measures to suppress the widespread forgery led to the establishment of the famous United States Secret Service, which today, through Title 18 of U.S. Code, Section 3056, still holds exclusive jurisdiction for cases involving the counterfeiting of U.S. “obligations and securities”. These include U.S. currency (paper money and coins), U.S. Treasury checks, Department of Agriculture food coupons and U.S. postage stamps. Continue Reading »

The Dollar Always Greener on the Other Side?
The United States Secret Service was established in the 19th century at the end of the American Civil War to try to put an end to counterfeiting when approximately one-third to one-half of all the currency flooding the nation’s market was fake. Today in the 21st century, the Secret Service’s role has expanded to include aggressively pursuing American money counterfeiters and traffickers internationally.

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Funny Money Going to the Dogs

The advancement of digital technology, with computer scanning capability and high-resolution printers, has made production of large quantities of counterfeit currency relative child’s play. Virtually anyone anywhere in the world can do it, and in a very short time. But counterfeiting is one of the oldest crimes in history. The United States Secret Service was established back in the 19th century at the end of the American Civil War as a remedy to the fact that one-third to one-half of all the currency flooding the nation’s market was fake. Continue Reading »