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Secret Service: Counterfeit Bills Being Used In Bay Area

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By NEIL JOHNSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 15, 2008

TAMPA - A batch of bogus bucks is being passed in the Tampa Bay area, counterfeit $100 and $50 bills that can pass the pen test cashiers frequently use to detect fakes.

The bills started surfacing in the region about a month ago and the counterfeit ring flooded stores with about $10,000 worth of fake bills in a week, said U.S. Secret Service Agent in Charge John Joyce.

Since that spike, appearance of the bills has dwindled but they still show up. Investigators believe the counterfeiters are centered in the Tampa Bay region.

"We believe they are coming from this particular area," Joyce said.

The bills have not shown up as frequently in Orlando or Jacksonville.

The counterfeiters are using a method agents have encountered before.

They bleach genuine $5 bills to remove the ink and reprint the images of a $50 or $100 bill. The method thwarts the first line of defense store cashiers use to unveil bogus money.

Because they are printed on genuine currency paper, the iodine pen that clerks swipe across bills doesn't change color. The iodine would turn black if the bill was printed on fake paper such as from a copy machine.

It also feels like a genuine bill.

The only way to detect the fake is to hold the bill up to the light to see the watermark. A genuine bill will have a watermark that matches the portrait. These have a watermark of Abraham Lincoln, whose portrait is on the $5 bill.

The security thread next to the portrait would also expose a fake bill but few people look closely enough. The strip will show the denomination of the bill.

Those passing the counterfeit bills take advantage of harried cashiers and frequent establishments with a high volume of business such as fast-food restaurants or discount warehouses.

"They hit places where the cashier is trying to push a large number of customers," Joyce said.

Those are frequently places where the cashier doesn't have time to do more than run the pen over a bill.

"They are good quality. They prey on the fact most people do not look at the watermark," he said.

Joyce would not say in which of the seven counties where his office focuses its efforts most of the fake bills have showed up.

The counterfeiting process isn't difficult and does not require a large printing press.

"We've seen it done in hotel rooms and people's basements," Joyce said.

You won't get into trouble if you are given a counterfeit bill and inadvertently try to spend it. However you are out the money and will likely be questioned by police and possibly the Secret Service.

"If you don't know it's a counterfeit note and the police interview and determine it was an accident, nothing will happen to you," Joyce said.

A batch of bogus bucks is being passed in the Tampa Bay area, counterfeit $100 and $50 bills that can pass the pen test cashiers frequently use to detect fakes.

Contact reporter Neil Johnson at (813) 259-7731 or njohnson@tampatrib.com.

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