ST. CHARLES – A Sugar Grove woman admitted to making counterfeit money on her home computer Wednesday and was sentenced to jail time and probation.

Shirley Ryckman, 39, pleaded guilty to forgery in exchange for a 62-day jail sentence, 30 months of probation and 200 hours of community service.

Police say Ryckman made the bills in her home using her computer and printer and then distributed them.

Counterfeit bills have been reported this summer in the area, including local stores, garage sales and the Sugar Grove Corn Boil festival.

Ryckman was arrested late last month and has been in jail since.

She likely will serve about one month in jail because of her time served and sentencing laws.

Another woman, Doris Adamson, 56, of Elburn, faces forgery charges in the matter. Police say Ryckman gave Adamson counterfeit bills, which she spent in Sugar Grove and in unincorporated areas outside Elburn.

She turned herself in Aug. 1 and is free from jail on $1,000 bond. She’s expected to appear in court next on Sept. 29.

The Chronicle

By Andrea Calcagno

August 20, 2009

ASHLAND, Ore. – Ashland Police are asking businesses to check five, 10 and 20-dollar bills for authenticity after counterfeit 20-dollar bills were used at three Ashland businesses over the past two days, this for the second time in a month.

Case Coffee, 7-11 and Chevron Gasoline were the businesses to receive the bills.

“It looked completely identical. Like you could hold it up to the light. It looked the same to me. It felt a little different, like it felt a little fake, but it was really hard to notice,” said Katie Case, co-owner of Case Coffee.

Police say this particular case of counterfeit money is unique because it targeted 10s and 20s, bills most businesses don’t check.

“We check 50s and 100s. You can hold them up to the light and see the little strip or whatever. But the 20s, you don’t really think about because they’re so common,” Case said.

7-11 employees are now required to check 20s with a marking pen.

“When we receive a 20, we check it with this pen. The pen is yellow, but if we swipe it across like that then its good, it does not leave a mark. But it the bill is counterfeit its going to leave a black mark,” 7-11 Employee John Taylor said.

Taylor says he now knows what to look for.

“They did not have the water marks. The reflective number in the bottom right hand corner did not reflect light. And we did not have a security bar on the side as well,” Taylor said.

Police say there are no suspects at this time for the fake bills.

News Watch

RCMP are calling it the largest private mint ever found in B.C.’s history.

They say the factory that made fake currency was shut down with the help of the RCMP’s Commercial Crime Section. RCMP seized $220,000 in fake currency.

Tens of thousands of bills were printed and how many are in circulation is not clear but police have scheduled a press conference to show off the printing presses and other machinery used to run the most sophisticated and the largest cash factory ever set up by a gang of crooks.

Police said it was the “largest counterfeit currency lab take-down in BC’s history that took place in Surrey.”

They also said the factory manufactured both Canadian and U.S. currency.

“Counterfeit Enforcement Team investigators executed a search warrant in the 8600 block of 151B Avenue in Surrey and found $96,000 in fake American bills and $130,000 in fake Canadian bills, mostly 50’s and 100’s Also, during the execution of the search warrants computers and equipment used in the production of the counterfeit banknotes were seized,” said RCMP

Richard Thomas McGaw, 30, of Coquitlam and Jesko Stefan Lindt, 49, from Surrey were arrested and charged for making and possessing counterfeit banknotes and for possessing instruments for making counterfeit banknotes. McGaw is also facing additional charges for breaching his bail conditions

The other two arrested, a 55-year-old male and 28-year-old female have been released on a promise to appear.

This is the largest seizure of this nature in B.C’s history. In 2008, British Columbia accounted for 9% of the total amount of counterfeit notes being passed across the country. According to Bank of Canada National Statistics, from February 2009 to March 2009, the $20 counterfeits increased by 24%, the $50’s increased by 19%, and the $100’s increased by 15%.

“I am confident that this counterfeit currency lab take down will significantly reduce the counterfeit banknotes in BC because these increases were predominantly linked back to Mr. McGaw and Mr. Lindt’s counterfeit operation. Overall, counterfeit banknotes have decreased in the last years as a result of increase in law enforcement seizures, public education and heightened retailer awareness,” said Sgt. Farahbakhchian, the Counterfeit Coordinator for the Federal Commercial Crime Section in BC.

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SEATTLE – A Seattle family says a couple passed a bogus $20 bill at their daughter’s lemonade stand. It happened Sunday afternoon at the family’s garage sale in the Olympic Hills area of North Seattle.

Ten-year-old Brett McCartt says a man gave her a $20 bill to buy some cookies and lemonade. Her father realized the bill was not real when he went to a local QFC store to buy more supplies for the stand. That clerk picked up on the funny money and called police.

This is the first time Brett has operated a lemonade booth and she is not happy to be taken advantage of.

“I hope he never does this again. He should know better. He is a grown man,” she said.

Brett planned to use the money she earned to buy school supplies and books.

Her mother, Dorian McCartt, says the fake bill looked real. She says she never thought to warn her daughter about counterfeiters.

“I think this is a lesson in trust and that this guy is a creep,” she says.

McCartt plans on warning neighbors who had yard sales this past weekend.

Seattle Police spokesperson Renee Witt tells KING 5 this type of case is referred to their fraud unit. Those detectives will involve investigators from the Secret Service because it’s a federal crime to pass counterfeit money.

Bob Kierstead, the Assistant Secret Agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Seattle office, says he is not surprised the counterfeiter targeted kids at garage sales.

“Some of the people don’t have a lot of standards and they will go after easy marks,” said Kierstead.

According to Kierstead, crooks in Bremerton recently targeted Girl Scouts selling cookies. He says with the latest color copiers and printers, crooks can produce better fake bills. One of the tricks is bleaching out $5 bills and reprinting them as 20s or 50s.

He says the best way to figure out the authenticity of the bills is to look at the embedded strip in the currency to see what denomination it is. He says the sophistication of the funny money and the denomination determines if it is a state forgery crime or a federal counterfeiting crime.

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It is a bit creepy that an adult would passing off a fake bill at a lemonade stand, but I guess that just shows the times we live in. Help the fight against counterfeiters by getting yourself a counterfeit detector. This report shows that you can never be too careful, even if you are working at a simple lemonade stand.

PEORIA —

A Bloomington man was sentenced Friday to two years in federal prison for making counterfeit $20 bills in December.

Charles J. Mosier, 28, of 508 Parkland pleaded guilty in April in U.S. District Court to making counterfeit obligations.

He and Victor A. Branch, 35, of 303 Deville Drive in Bloomington both participated in the bogus bill production. Branch pleaded guilty in June and awaits sentencing on Sept. 23.

Mosier was ordered to repay $60 in restitution for the counterfeit money and sentenced to two years on supervised release.

Branch also agreed, as part of his plea, to allow government to seize the equipment used to make the bogus bills. He remains free on bond pending his Sept. 23 sentencing before U.S. District Judge Joe McDade.

In an unrelated case, Robert Wyatt, 33, of 404 W. Verner Drive, Peoria was sentenced to 100 months in federal prison for distributing more than 50 grams of crack cocaine. According to his plea agreement, an informant arranged the sale of 2 1/4 ounces of crack on June 3, 2008.

When he is released, Wyatt will spend eight years on supervised release.

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SUFFOLK, Va. – In a less than two hour period, Suffolk police say someone used counterfeit money in three separate cases in the area.

On August 7, just after 7 p.m., the suspect used the funny money at the Pure Station on Holland Road. At 9 p.m., the suspect gave a second victim a fake $50 bill and a short while later a neighborhood supermarket on Wellons Street reported the suspect tried to use a fake bill to buy something there.

At the end of July, Suffolk police at least five fake bills were used across the city.

Public Information Officer Debbie George says counterfeit money usually shows up in spurts. She says, typically, if one counterfeit bill shows up, others will follow.

Anyone with information should call the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP (562-5887).

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Reports of counterfeit money don’t stop coming in. It makes sense that with a low economy, more people will be counterfeiting .

Let’s hope that Obama doesn’t let the government and taxpayer’s money go to waste. Right now America seems to be staying on a downward spiral, but at least it has slowed down to an extent in the past few weeks.

I believe in these hard economic times -owning a counterfeit detector could be one of the smartest things you can do, other then keeping or finding a job of course! You can never go wrong with safe guarding the money you have. It also helps to avoid over spending, which could be partially what got us into this mess -though I would blame it on the previous administration’s more then anything else .

We wish you the best of luck out there and hope that America will get better over the next few months!

ROCHESTER, Minn. (WCCO) ―

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is sending out a warning about counterfeit money in the Rochester area.

They said the fake $100 bills started showing up in local business bank deposits. One of the businesses described a woman with blonde hair and a heavy build, about 5 feet, 7 inches and carrying a green purse.

The BCA said the following serial numbers have been found on the counterfeit bills: FE33586545A, FK41298968A and FL45263587C.

If you have information about this case, the non-emergency number for the Rochester Police Department is 507-328-6800.

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August 6, 2009
By ROWENA VERGARA rvergara@scn1.com

Police occasionally take reports about fake $50 or $100 bills — but not $20 bills.

Officers say the fake $20 bills that have been circulating in and around Sugar Grove since late July could go undetected when stacked among other greenbacks. But, individually, the differences are obvious.”As far as it passing for currency, no, it’s not even close,” said Sugar Grove investigator John Sizer.

Two women have been charged with possessing counterfeit bills in the Sugar Grove area, and Sizer says police have continued to hear about more fake $20 bills appearing throughout the Fox Valley.

On July 30, Shirley Ryckman, 39, of the 1200 block of Dorr Drive, Sugar Grove, was charged with forgery, accused of printing counterfeit U.S. currency.

On Sunday, Doris Adamson, 56, of the 500 block of Main Street, Elburn, was charged with felony forgery, police said.

According to police, Ryckman scanned $20 bills on her personal computer and printed the images herself. Police began investigating in July, after three counterfeit $20 bills popped up at a bank. Two of those three bills had the same serial number, Sizer said. And carnival workers at the Sugar Grove Corn Boil became suspicious when they caught hold of odd-looking $20 bills.

But not all businesses are careful to check $20 bills, because the denomination is so common, Sizer said.

“They’re kind of like singles now,” he said. “For this stuff, you almost have to be looking for it.”

Sugar Grove police have since been contacted by the Naperville Police Department about possible counterfeit money, as well as possible fake $20 bills that had been given to a retail clerk at an Aurora store, Sizer said.

How can you tell if money is fake? According to the Secret Service, counterfeit money can be detected in the following ways:

• Check the serial number. If you receive two or more bills with an identical serial number, at least one is fake because no serial numbers are alike.

• Match the portrait of the president on the front of the bill to the watermark that can be found on the front when held up to the light. The $10, $20 and $50 bills should have a watermark portrait of that same president to the right of his face. Counterfeiters have been known to bleach real bills, and change the denomination from a $5 to a $50, for example. In this case, the faces would not match.

• Find the security strip that runs vertically through the bill. The number should match the value of the bill. The security thread on a $20 runs to the left of the portrait; the $5, $10 and $50 threads run to the right of the portrait.
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At itestcash we recommend the easiest way to check if your bills are real or not, by getting a counterfeit detector. There are all sorts of counterfeit detecting products you can get depending on what you are using it for. High quality counterfeit detecting machines would obviously be a great idea for someone that is running a business where you come across many bills . While someone who works at a small store or deals with a small amount of bills a day, would be best off with something simple and useful like the counterfeit pen or ultra violet light to guard your bills.

But regardless of what you choose, we wish you the best of luck to remain safe secure in our troubled economy. Let’s hope that President Obama and congress can do something good to help us out of this mess.

Counterfeit currency in Cedar Rapids
Tuesday, August 4, 2009, 5:16 PM
By O.Kay Henderson

Officials say counterfeit money is circulating in the Cedar Rapids area.

In the past 11 days, Cedar Rapids Police have gotten eight different calls from businesses that have received counterfeit money as payment for goods or services. Police now have half a dozen five dollar bills, three ten dollar bills and one fifty dollar bill — all counterfeit. Cedar Rapids Police are going through video from surveillance cameras in some of the stores to try to track the transactions.

A Cedar Rapids police spokeswoman says this “funny money” doesn’t have the feel of real currency. The fake bills also lack the appropriate water marks.

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