Counterfeit bills on the rise

It’s that time of year again, when Midlands stores are filled with frantic shoppers, sappy music and temporary cashiers.

Add customers who are cash-strapped, and the annual Christmas-season spike in the passing of counterfeit cash ripens into a U.S. Secret Service problem.

As the federal agency that investigates counterfeiting, the Secret Service typically sees a 10 to 15 percent increase in counterfeit bills passed during the Christmas shopping season, which includes next week.

The reason for the spike: People, even criminals, buy more this time of year, said John Gutsmiedl, resident agent in charge of the service’s Omaha office.

That, and it’s easier to get counterfeit bills past inexperienced, seasonal cashiers.

“I think the biggest reason is that (criminals) take advantage of how busy it is everywhere,” he said. “The cashiers really want to get people through because they may be 10 people deep.”

Counterfeit bills cost individuals and businesses. No one, including the government, reimburses people who get stuck with fakes. But there are ways shoppers, clerks and business owners can protect themselves.

“We tell them if you can catch the counterfeit before your good or service goes out the door, you don’t lose,” Gutsmiedl said. “If you take it, you’re probably going to lose.”

Clerks need not check every dollar they handle, Gutsmiedl said. But the signal to investigate a particular bill lies in how it feels in a cashier’s hands — or the hands of a customer.

Bob Batt, executive vice president of the Nebraska Furniture Mart, said store security trains Mart clerks — including temporary ones — to detect bad bills.

Legitimate U.S. bills are three-fourths cotton and one-fourth linen, making them more durable and giving them a fibrous feel. Most fake bills are smoother, as if printed on office paper, which they usually are.

“Genuine U.S. currency is 75 percent cotton rag,” Gutsmiedl said. “If it feels funny, then start looking at the security features.”

There are three main security features: The security thread, a plastic strip embedded in the bill that runs vertically through the bill; the watermark, a faint image similar to the large portrait; and color-shifting ink, which should change color at the denomination on the lower-right corner when the note is tilted up and down.

If you receive a suspicious bill, look at “the big three,” he said.

Store owners can purchase ultraviolet lights to help detect counterfeits. Most cashiers and customers need savvy.

Compared with fraud or bad checks, counterfeiting is a small problem for large stores like the Furniture Mart. Still, Batt said, everyone is on the lookout this holiday season with the high volume of cash being handled.

“Training and being proactive is the key to stopping that problem,” he said.

If a cashier or customer suspects a bill he or she has been handed is counterfeit, call local police, Gutsmiedl said. They can get there far more quickly than the Secret Service.

The customer should be told the police are coming to verify the authenticity of a bill. Someone unaware of passing a counterfeit will probably stick around.

If the person passing the bill flees, write down a physical description and, whenever possible, try to get a license plate number, Gutsmiedl said.

But no bill is worth getting hurt. If someone acts in a threatening manner, he said, hand back the bill and politely ask the person passing it to leave.

Contact the writer:

444-3106, andrew.nelson@owh.com

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