Counterfeit Money Alert

Longview — The Longview Police Department is urging residents to be cautious when accepting $100.00 dollar bills.

Residents have alerted police to several counterfeit $100.00 bills in recent weeks. Investigators believe the counterfeit bills are actual United States currency of $1.00, $5.00 or $10.00 amounts that have had the ink removed from them and then re-printed as $100.00 bills. Because these counterfeits are printed over genuine currency, standard detection devices, such as colorchanging markers and counting machines, do not always “catch” these bills.

Subsequently, they may remain in circulation for an indefinite period of time.

Longview Police Department financial crime investigators advise residents to always be aware that these types of counterfeit bills can remain in general circulation, thereby increasing the chances of receiving one during the normal course of business.

The simplest way to determine the legitimacy of a bill is to
inspect it under a light source for the presence of a security strip and watermark.

If these security features do not correspond with the face value and presidential portrait on the bill, then it is counterfeit. Residents are asked to contact the Longview Police Department if they come into possession of one of these
counterfeit bills.