Counterfeit bills passed at Cape Girardeau bank and city hall

Phony bills were reported to police Thursday afternoon by Capaha Bank and Cape Girardeau City Hall, and investigators will look into a possible link to recent incidents throughout the area.

A young man attempted to pay his water bill with two counterfeit $20 bills and said he had received the bills as change from another business in town. The man said he was paying the bill for another water customer and was not detained by police.

Officer Darin Hickey of the Cape Girardeau Police Department said that the man's information will be kept on file, but no arrest was made.

"Sometimes they do make it into circulation," Hickey said. "Someone may spend it and not know that it is a counterfeit bill."

A deposit at Capaha Bank at 3168 William St. by a local convenience store was also discovered to contain fake money. The bank said it could not publicly comment on counterfeit bills.

Hickey said that counterfeit bills accepted by four stores at West Park Mall on Oct. 5 have been tied to others found in Dexter, Mo., and Poplar Bluff, Mo. Thursday's incidents have not been formally linked to past reports but will be analyzed for similarities. The cases have been passed along to the U.S. Secret Service for investigation. Two people were arrested in Poplar Bluff last week in connection with counterfeit bills, and three others were being sought by police.

Hickey said counterfeit bills can be easily identified by consumers are number of ways. Fakes may contain duplicate serial numbers, be crooked on the paper, be the wrong color and have ink that is faded or runs together. Often counterfeiters attempt to make money look crumpled and worn as if it had been in circulation.

Usually, Hickey said, bad bills are caught once they reach a bank, where employees are trained to spot marks of authenticity.

Real money is printed on a special, durable paper that is a blend of linen and cotton. Tiny red and blue fibers are embedded in the paper. Since 1996, bills of $5 and higher contain a number of security features, such as a security thread, a watermark that is not printable by a copier or scanner, fine line patterns and color-shifting ink. The U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing provides extensive guidelines about money security at www.moneyfactory.gov.

Hickey said the easiest way to determine if money is authentic is to use a counterfeit money detector pen. Similar to a highlighter, the pens are available locally for around $5. Their marks are yellow if the bill is good, black if it is bad.

salderman@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

3148 William St., Cape Girardeau, MO

401 Independence Street, Cape Girardeau, MO

3049 William St., Cape Girardeau, MO

Dexter, MO

Poplar Bluff, MO