On Tuesday night Two men were arrested after a McDonald’s employee tipped off the police. These two men were making and distributing counterfeit money. Reports of counterfeit money are only getting worse and it’s highly advisable you get yourself a counterfeit pen before you run into counterfeit money.

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Boise, Idaho — Two men have been arrested for making and distributing counterfeit money.

Boise police say the two men have been passing fake 20-dollar bills over several days.

Tuesday night, they arrested Zane Dees and Scott Vance and charged them with felony forgery.

It happened when a McDonald’s employee at Overland and Cole roads recognized a fake 20-dollar bill and called authorities.

Dees and Vance were still at the restaurant when police arrived, and eventually confessed to detectives they have been passing several counterfeit 20-dollar bills.

“During the course of the investigation these two subjects both 18 years old, both individuals had been the last few days in both making counterfeit money and passing it at numerous locations across the valley”, said Boise Police Detective Wade Spain.

Police are asking other businesses to call them if they find a suspicious 20-dollar bill.

Dees and Vance were both arraigned Wednesday afternoon in Ada County.

The workers in Arkansas understand why its essential to have a counterfeit pen. One night club owner had stacks of $100 bills that were counterfeit that had to come out of his own pocket and could have been avoided if he had a counterfeit detector. The workers at Valero gas station are also reporting counterfeit bills and keep a counterfeit pen by the register to avoid ending up with funny money.

http://www.todaysthv.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=62061

Gas stations and other businesses should watch carefully because the money they accept may be worthless.

Every bill taken at the Valero gas station on Kanis and Rodney Parham is marked with a counterfeit detection pen because they’ve received funny money.

“We did the same thing,” say Steve Side who once owned a night club, so he understands. “We mostly got hundreds dollar bills,” he continues. “You get some of them that were really good. And some of them were really bad.”

Over time, Sides says the phony money continued to accumulate. “I had a stack of those hundred dollar bills probably five or six inches high that I had to turn over to the Secret Service. And those were hundred dollar bills and that’s just money out of my pocket.”

Brian Mar with the Secret Service says there’s always been counterfeit bills in circulation, but with the rise in food and gas prices, places like the Valero that deal with high volumes of cash, are susceptible to the counterfeiters. “Some of this currency is seized prior to being passed to the public and some of this currency is passed to the public,” Mar says. “What you see here is currency that has been passed to the public.”

It’s thousands and thousands of dollars that’s not worth the paper it’s printed on. But Mars says there are ways to protect yourself from being defrauded. “Genuine currency and counterfeit currency is very easy to tell apart if you’ll just take the time to look at it,” he explains. “There’s red and blue security fibers woven into the note itself in genuine currency.”

Mar says your eyes are the best counterfeit detector. “If you’re using the detection pen, go ahead and use it. But I would also make sure that I go ahead and check it against a genuine note.”

Or you can take the fake and lose like Steve Sides once did. “It’s just paper,” he says. “It’s not any good for anything.”

If you come across some of this counterfeit currency, Agent Mar says you should contact your police department for quickest response.

Worldwide, he says $765 billion in U.S. currency is in circulation and more than $100,000 of counterfeit cash has been identified in Arkansas.

Stories like this show why it’s important to have a counterfeit detector. This guy used his computer to make 80 $100 bills and nearly 400 $10 bills and went around local stores in Hartford to buy small items and get change in real money.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/connecticut/ny-bc-ct–counterfeitcharge0303mar03,0,3875952.story

  HARTFORD, Conn. - A Windsor man has been sentenced to nine months in prison for making counterfeit money.

Dwight Benjamin pleaded guilty in June to one count of manufacturing counterfeit obligations, a federal crime. The 24-year-old has already served 13 months in prison on state forgery charges, so he won’t have to serve any more time on the federal charges.

U.S. Attorney Kevin O’Connor says that between April 2004 and February 2005, Benjamin used his computer to make 80 $100 bills and nearly 400 $10 bills. He used them at stores around Hartford to buy small items and get change in real money.

Three teenagers from Beverly were caught with approximately $1,350 in fake money according to a police report after employees from Stop & Shop and Shaw’s reported being given bogus $50 bills. The employees realized the bills were fake after using a counterfeit pen.

http://www.salemnews.com/punews/local_story_054070514.html

BEVERLY — Three Beverly teenagers are being charged in a scheme to pass counterfeit $50 bills at two local supermarkets last week.

John Paul Kehoe, 19, of 15 Pine Road, Beverly, was arrested yesterday morning, and two 16-year-olds will be summoned to appear in court on charges of uttering and possession of counterfeit notes.

Police began investigating after employees at Shaw’s and Stop & Shop reported they had been given bogus $50 bills on Feb. 13. After looking at security camera footage, Detective Jeff Liacos recognized some of the teenagers.

“I knew three of the four people through my experience of three years as a school resource officer,” Liacos said.

Police learned that the two 16-year-olds had made small purchases at Shaw’s with the phony $50 bills and received $47.71 and $46.21 in change. After they left, store employees marked them with a special pen and determined they were fake.

The pen contains iodine-based ink that shows up yellow or clear on real money because it’s printed on cotton fiber that doesn’t react to iodine. In these two cases, the ink showed up brown, which meant the money was either very old or fake, Liacos said.

After questioning the boys, police identified Kehoe as the person who provided the bills and got a warrant. Investigators learned Kehoe and three other teenagers were riding around in Kehoe’s gold Lexus, when Kehoe pulled out a wad of $50 bills, approximately $1,350, according to a police report. He told the younger teens that his friend had printed them and that he had been asked to carry them around to “age” them.

Liacos said the counterfeit money was fairly well forged.

“They were worn, and they looked passable,” he said. “But to the trained eye, they looked like junk.”

Kehoe allegedly doled out some of the fake money to the other teens, who passed them at the supermarkets. Police are still investigating who gave Kehoe the money.

Similar counterfeit bills have turned up in the course of another ongoing investigation, according to a police report.

Beverly police also called in the United States Secret Service, the agency that investigates counterfeit currency. It’s not out of the ordinary to request their assistance, Liacos said.

Ken Jenkins, assistant special agent in charge, said counterfeit cases are not very common, but when they do occur “It’s mostly younger, high school kids, or young adults.

“They’ll go into a local establishment, and when they find they can do it, they’ll do it again,” he said. The Secret Service is investigating whether the counterfeit currency was used in the past.

Kehoe pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Salem District Court and was released on $300 cash bail. He’s due back in court on April 2.

Without the counterfeit pen the $1,350 of counterfeit bills that the teens had on them could still be circulating and there is no way to know who the next victim of counterfeit bills will be. So make sure you have a counterfeit detector if you’re in a business because it’s worth it to make 100% profit and for peace of mind.

Where are you heading on your next vacation? Wherever it is you are probably going to stick out like a sore thumb. But who cares, you are having fun. Don’t let their stares get you rattled, it is your vacation and you worked hard to pay for it - so what if they snicker. Oh, just make sure you don’t get taken advantage of. Tourists and foreigners are prime targets for counterfeiters, they aren’t very familiar with the local currency and are set to relax mode so their suspicious sensors are turned way down. Check out this story from the Gazette about how counterfeiters are going strong in the UK.

POLICE in Cleveleys today warned traders to be on the lookout for fake cash.
A man ran from a shop in the town after trying to pay for goods with a counterfeit £20.

Now PC Quentin Allen, Cleveleys’ community beat manager, is concerned more dodgy notes may be in circulation.

PC Allen said: “We have only had one incident so far, but I’m urging shop staff to be on the lookout.

“These are counterfeits of the new £20 note.

“It hasn’t been in circulation for very long so people are only just getting used to them.

“That makes spotting what is a very good fake even harder.”

PC Allen was alerted to the fake currency on Friday last week when a man tried to spend one of the notes in a bakery store in the town centre.

He said: “The man wanted to pay for something of a very low value with a £20 note.

Suspicious

“Fortunately, the staff member had a special pen which can identify a fake.

“When she tested the note she was worried and said she would have to call the police.

“At that point the man turned and ran out of the door.

“It’s obvious he knew what he was doing.”

PC Allen is also worried about a woman spotted in the town acting suspiciously with large quantities of cash.

He said: “There is a woman in the town who has been pulling £20 notes from a large wad in her boots.

“That is certainly unusual and we are concerned she may also be involved.”

PC Allen said traders in the town should take precautions to prevent fake currency falling into their hands.

He said: “All stores should have the special pens which can identify a fake.

“They cost virtually nothing but could end up saving someone a fortune.”

Police are now hunting the man who ran from the store.

PC Allen said: “We do want to speak to him, to see how he is involved.

“The man was in his early 20s, with short, black hair.

“He was scruffy with no teeth and wore a black three quarter length anorak.”

So rather then spend your precious vacation days nervous or worried invest a mere eleven dollars and twenty nine cents (way less than you will tip the bellman) in a shiny new Universal Counterfeit Detector Pen and enjoy your well deserved retreat.

We don’t recommend you mark every single one dollar bill that gets handed to you, even though cost wise it makes sense rather it’s your time we value , but people are crazy enough and willing to risk getting caught and going to jail over a buck.

http://www.wkyt.com/news/headlines/15565422.html

It’s not the first time we’ve heard about counterfeit money, but several people say it’s the first time they’ve heard of a fake one dollar bill. WYMT’s Marie Luby spoke to the clerk who took what she calls a counterfeit bill and wonders why one dollar could be worth so much trouble.

It just doesn’t look real, it looks like a play dollar bill actually,” Hope Branham said.

That’s what employees at the Natural Bridge Shell station in Slade are saying about the dollar bill Hope Branham found when she was counting her drawer Tuesday morning.

“On the ends here you can tell where it’s white, where it’s been copied onto a regular paper. and here’s where we marked it with the pen, and it’s black,” Branham said.

Branham says this ink shows up a yellowish-brown on real bills, and black on the fakes.

Banking officials say U-S Secret Service agents are the only ones who can officially say whether money is counterfeit.

Community Trust Bank Marketing President Janice King says in her 30 years in the business, a fake dollar bill would be a first.

“Sometimes with the larger bills you’ll see several at one time and then you won’t see them for a while, but in the event that we do get a counterfeit bill at the bank we have to keep it and fill out a report and send it to the secret service,” King said.

Now employees and customers here are wondering, why would anyone bother to fake a single dollar?

“I wouldn’t want to go to jail for something like that it’d be more than that if I was gonna go to jail,” Branham said.

Branham says no one will go to jail this time, because they didn’t want to call police over a dollar.

They say they’d rather someone try to steal a small cup of coffee, than a tank of gas.

Hope Branham says she’s come across several one dollar bills in the past few months that she thinks are fake and employees are now checking every single bill that’s handed to them no matter how small.

None the less if something looks funny or suspicious take a moment to mark the bill. Most thieves start out petty, first they’ll try something insignificant-something that you wouldn’t bother calling the cops about if they get caught but if they get a way they will move up the ladder. If you have the counterfeit pen next to your cash register they will know you are serious about counterfeiters and probaly just move on to the next target.

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.

Reported cases of counterfeit cash are on the rise in Douglas.

The fake money is giving merchants a big headache at the register. Police say the problem is getting worse.

In 2005, Douglas police took 52 reports of counterfeit money. Then in 2006, the number of cases went up to 61. So far, 44 counterfeit cases have been reported this year. Police expect that number to increase dramatically by the end of December.

Olga Salazar is manager of the Border Mart convenience store in Douglas. They’ve had their share of counterfeit cash in the past, but they’re cracking down.

Salazar says, “I think that a lot of customers are aware that we use a counterfeit pen. Every bill, especially the 20’s because they have been coming in as counterfeit. We mark them on both sides. If it marks black, that’s a sign that it’s not good.”

Officer Marcus Gonzalez says, “We believe most of this money is being counterfeit in Mexico and brought across the border.”

Police are trying to find a solution.

“We’re currently in the process of coordinating with the secret service for them to conduct a presentation for local businesses and merchants.

http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=7240120&nav=HMO6

One local convenience store is on the lookout after counterfeit money ended up in its cash registered. The Shell gas station in downtown Green Bay was hit with two fake $20 bills in one week.

“I actually got one of the counterfeit 20s,” cashier Jessica Jicha admitted.

Jicha didn’t know it was fake until the bank wouldn’t accept it. “It’s a horrible feeling. Now you’re out $20, and you know, you don’t want to be that responsible party that let it happen,” she said.

Jicha said she’s always been careful when it comes to bigger bills, using a counterfeit-detecting pen to make sure they’re real. On real bills the ink is yellow; on fake bills it turns dark brown.

“We’re used to marking 50s and 100s. Getting used to marking 20s is kind of a difficult thing because there is so much fast cash flow,” Jicha said. She said she also checks for the different texture of the paper.

Green Bay police say all businesses need to be on the lookout, especially as we get closer to the holiday season when counterfeit activity typically spikes. Captain Karl Fleury added that smaller denominations of fake bills are becoming more common.

“Fifties, hundreds, the store clerks are trained to look at this bills closer. Twenties, kind of an everyday transaction. They need to be guarded with it as much as possible when they’re taking money, handling money,” Fleury said.

Fleury said businesses take the loss on fake bills but eventually we all pay for it.

“They’re in it to make a living also,” Fleury said of the businesses, “and the thing is, if they keep getting hit by this, they’ll pass the cost on to the consumer, and we all are consumers. So all of us are paying for this. So we should be concerned about this type of behavior.”

Employees at the Shell station want counterfeiters to know they’re checking.

http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=7287231

It’s happening again, they’re out there, they’re circulating, so we just have to be careful,”

At one time, a counterfeiter needed certain skills to produce a phony but genuine-looking $20 bill.

Now, it only takes a high-end computer printer and a few minutes.

The changing technology, police said, allowed two college roommates, still teenagers, to print off a few fake $20s and exchange them for real cash at four hotels on Peach Street near Interstate 90 on Sept. 13.

On Sept. 28, police said, a group of still-unidentified suspects paid for $400 worth of merchandise with counterfeit bills they passed at Lowe’s on Keystone Drive. Police said a woman on Sept. 28 also left counterfeit $20 bills behind at the nearby Wal-Mart.

The local cases show counterfeit money still is in circulation, despite the recent changes to currency designed to make fake bills easier to spot. Continue Reading »