From Sandy Louey:
The Redding Police Department has seen an increase in the number of counterfeit bills reported in the past few weeks, police reported today.
The counterfeit bills are mostly $20, but some have been $100 bills. Pens used by many businesses to check the bills may not be able to detect the two counterfeit techniques that have been used, according to a press release from the Police Department.
Counterfeiters wash the printing off of a real $5 or $10 bill and print a scanned image of a higher denomination bill on the washed bill. These counterfeit bills can be detected by holding them to a light and looking for the watermark and security thread, which will be incorrect for the higher denomination, police said.
Police said the color shifting ink in the lower right corner of the bill will not change color when viewed from different angles as it does on genuine currency.
The second counterfeit method is a multi-step printing process. These bills lack blue and red fibers. The watermark is of poor quality and can be seen without holding the bill up to the light.
When held up to a UV light, the security thread doesn't glow the correct color, which is different for each denomination from $5 to $100, police said.
Police are reminding that when accepting multiple bills for cash payment to check for duplicate serial numbers, which are different on genuine currency.
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