From the HPD: Counterfeit money alert

This crime alert is about counterfeit bills being passed this week. Businesses and banks should be on the lookout for these bills. If you encounter one of these bills, please contact the Henderson Police Department at 252.438.4141.

Recently, fake $100 and $50 bills have shown up at businesses in the Henderson area. The perpetrators are using chemicals to “wash” $5 bills and are printing $100 faces and backs on the “erased” notes.

If you look closely at one of the counterfeits, you will see Abraham Lincoln’s face in the water mark on the right hand side of the bill when it is held up to the light (instead of Benjamin Franklin’s or Ulysses S. Grant’s face). You will also see “USA Five” written on a strip inside the bill on the left hand side. The color-shifting ink in the lower right of the bill will not shift color on the face bills when they are twisted in the light.

Since the fake bills are printed on real money paper, the common used detection pens will not show the bill to be counterfeit. Looking closely at the bills is the only way to detect them at this time.

If you receive a counterfeit:

Do not return it to the passer.

Delay the passer if possible.

Observe the passer’s description, as well as that of any companions, and the license numbers of any vehicle used.

Telephone your local police department or the United States Secret Service. These numbers can be found on the inside front page of your local telephone directory.

Write your initials and the date on a blank portion of the suspect note.

Do not handle the note. Carefully place it in a protective covering, such as an envelope.

Surrender the note or coin only to a properly identified police officer or U.S. Secret Service agent.