If you are running a Garage Sale make sure to have the counterfeit pen with you. Most people don’t bother to check small bills, but with all the counterfeit money going around it pays to be safe.

Nearly $150 worth of fake money was used to buy tickets at Festa Italiana this weekend, and now more reports of counterfeit cash are surfacing. In an attempt to make money, many people in the Stateline are actually losing money at the hands of scam artists.
Police blame the influx of fake money on the stagnant economy, and improved technology. “As far as the upgrades of computers, printers, scanners, we do see an increase,” says Sgt. JR Randall, with the Rockford Police Department’s Investigative Services Unit.
But where these bad bills are showing up, might surprise you. Counterfeiters are taking fake cash straight to your front yard. Jessica Archibald was one of many this weekend, who got scammed at her own garage sale. “I wouldn’t think I’d need to look at a fifty or even a twenty at a garage sale, but it makes a lot of sense, because no one checks for that,” she says.
Jessica says a woman bought about four dollars worth of stuff, and paid with a $50 bill, asking first if Jessica had change. “Sure, not a problem,” she told the woman. “I got change, no big deal.”
It wasn’t until after the woman left, that she realized the money didn’t look right. “It was just a little bit smaller than the other 50’s,” she says. Jessica called police and took the $50 bill to a local bank where they confirmed it was fake.
It turns out Jessica had given $46 in change, to someone who never actually paid.
“They told me she was probably just taking it around to area garage sales, that’s how they make their money,” she says.
That’s because most businesses now have UV lights and special pens that can detect fake money, so counterfeiters are left with few places to spend their illegal dough. “The smaller the place, the easier it is to pass a bill,” Randall says. He says once a phony bill is in circulation, it’s nearly impossible to trace its origin.
The special pens can be bought at office supply stores. Police say the best piece of advice they can give is to be aware of all money you get - compare its coloring, texture, and size with the cash you already have on-hand.

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