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Stores report bogus $100 bills

A sample $100 bill on the left is backlit to clearly show the watermark. At right, also backlit, is one of the counterfeit bills passed in the area.

Jason Riedmiller/For The Times Leader

The U.S. Secret Service is investigating rash of counterfeit $100 bills that have been recently passed at stores in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties.

William Slavoski, special agent in charge of the agency’s Scranton office, said 75 to 100 of the counterfeit bills were passed in Wilkes-Barre Township within the last three weeks.

Numerous stores, including Staples, Lowes, Best Buy and Toys R Us were victimized, Slavoski said. Lowe’s was particularly hard hit, taking in around 20 of the bogus bills in a single day.

Many times the counterfeiters will purchase items at one store using the fake bills, then return the items to another store within the same chain to get real cash in return, he said.

Slavoski said he believes the bills were made by the same person or organization. The counterfeits are of higher quality than many of the other fake bills the agency sees as they were manufactured on a printing press as opposed to an ink jet printer, which is commonly utilized, he said.

There are several telltale signs merchants and residents can be on the look-out for to detect the fakes, however.

The texture of the counterfeit notes is the most noticeable, he said.

“Nobody can buy paper that genuine currency is printed with, number one, so the feel alone is the first thing,” he said.

Other important differences between genuine and counterfeit bills include:

• The lack of color-shifting ink on the number 100 which changes from green to black when tilted toward light

• A watermark that does not match the portrait or is easily visible without being held up to the light

• A security thread that cannot be read clearly or appears darkened when held up to the light or shiny when looked at normally.

• The human image on the bill appears “flat.” On genuine bills, the image has a three-dimensional look.

Slavoski noted neither the Secret Service nor the U.S. Treasury Department endorse the use of counterfeit detection pens that are sold commercially. Slavoski said the pens are noted for giving inaccurate results, indentifying genuine bills as counterfeits and counterfeits as genuine bills.

Slavoski advised merchants and residents to be especially vigilant. If you suspect a bill is counterfeit, you can request the person who handed it in to stay until police are called, but you cannot force them to stay.

If the person leaves, Slavoski said you should get as good of a description as possible, including the type car and, if possible, license plate number.

Chris Hughes, editor of Go Lackawanna, contributed to this story.