Escanaba warns of counterfeit currency

Escanaba businesses should be on the lookout for counterfeit currency. The Escanaba Department of Public Safety has seen an increased number of incidents involving counterfeit cash over the past few weeks and is urging local shop owners to remain vigilant when accepting cash payments from customers.

Here are some tips you can use to help spot or deter countefeit money being passed to you:

(1) Bleached bills: Hold a bill up to a light and look for a holograph of the face image on the bill. Both images should match. If the $100 bill has been bleached, the hologram will display an image of Abraham Lincoln, who appears on the $5 bills, instead of Benjamin Franklin. A common tactic of counterfeiters is to bleach a lower denomination bill and make it a high denomination bill.
(2) Looking at the bill through a light will also reveal a thin vertical strip containing text that spells out the bill’s denomination.
(3) Color-shifting ink: If you hold the new series bill (except the $5 note) and tilt it back and forth, please observe the numeral in the lower right hand corner as its color shifts from green to black and back.
(4) Watermark: Hold the bill up to a light to view the watermark in an unprinted space to the right of the portrait. The watermark can be seen from both sides of the bill since it is not printed on the bill but is imbedded in the paper.
(5) Security Thread: Hold the bill a light to view the security thread. You will see a thin imbedded strip running from top to bottom on the face of a banknote. In the $10 and $50 the security strip is located to the right of the portrait, and in the $5, $20 and $100, it is located just to the left of the portrait.
(6) Ultraviolet Glow: If the bill is held up to an ultraviolet light, the $5 bill glows blue; the $10 bill glows orange, the $20 bill glows green, the $50 bill glows yellow, and the $100 bill glows red – if they are authentic!
(7) Microprinting: There are minute microprinting on the security threads: the $5 bill has “USA FIVE” written on the thread; the $10 bill has “USA TEN” written on the thread; the $20 bill has “USA TWENTY” written on the thread; the $50 bill has “USA 50” written on the thread; and the $100 bill has the words “USA 100” written on the security thread. Microprinting can be found around the portrait as well as on the security threads.
(8) Fine Line Printing Patterns: Very fine lines have been added behind the portrait and on the reverse side scene to make it harder to reproduce.
(9) Comparison: Compare the feel and texture of the paper with other bills you know are authentic.

Here is what to do if you are passed a counterfeit bill:
(1) Do not put yourself in danger.
(2) Do not return the bill to the passer.
(3) Delay the passer with some excuse if possible.
(4) Observe the passer’s description, their companions’ description(s), and write down their vehicle license plate numbers if you can.
(5) Contact your local police department.
(6) Try not to over handle the counterfeit note. Place it inside a protective cover, a plastic bag, or envelope to protect it until you turn it over to the proper authorities.