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.

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