Police warning local stores about counterfeit money

Williamsburg police are warning local merchants to be on the lookout for a slew of counterfeit $20 bills that have been popping up around town.
“On Jan. 18, 19, and 20 we got flooded with counterfeit $20 bills. They started popping up everywhere from Wal-Mart to all the local grocery stores, and fast food places,” said Williamsburg Police Detective Wayne Bird.
“What they are doing is catching places that are busy, and don’t have the time to check the bills, and they are getting through. All the businesses just need to check every $20 bill that they get.”
One bogus bill even popped up at a local bank, which probably came from the night deposit of a local store, Bird added.
The counterfeits are of the new $20 bills, and appear to have been done on a computer with a color printer.
Bird said the new bills are difficult to counterfeit, and use several security measures to keep them from being duplicated, such as the new watermark.
“Businesses just aren’t taking the time to check. They are some of the worst counterfeits I have ever seen. They are horrible counterfeits, but what I have found is most places don’t have the counterfeit pens to check them with. Businesses really need to look at every $20 bill that they get,” Bird added.
A total of 10 bills popped up just in Williamsburg over that three-day period last week.
Bird said he has also gotten reports from Jellico police about bogus bills there.
“I spoke with Secret Service agents yesterday, and learned that London also has a flood of $20 bills that are counterfeit,” he added.
Bird said he doesn’t know if the counterfeit bills found in London are connected yet, but that he believes the Jellico bills are probably connected to ones found here.
Joe Schenkenfelder, a security officer with Cumberland Valley National Bank, said the Williamsburg bank has had five counterfeit bills pop up so far this year, and that the bank is seeing both counterfeit $20 bills and $10 bills.
He said the color reproduction on the bills is poor, and that the paper is lighter than a regular bill. These bills also appear to have come from a color copier.
“Everybody just needs to look at them a little closer,” Schenkenfelder urged.
On Nov. 16, Cumberland Valley had a woman bring in $240 in counterfeit bills that she reportedly thought were good. The woman said she found the bills inside a vase in a home that she moved into, and brought them to the bank. The matter was reported to the Secret Service for investigation, Schenkenfelder said.
Any business suspecting they have a counterfeit bill should contact their local police department.
“If the local businesses have someone come in passing one, then they need to try and keep that person there if they can until police arrive. They certainly need to keep the bill, and contact the police department,” Bird said.
Bird said that with the advent of color printers and scanners, counterfeit bills have been a growing problem everywhere.
“We have one every once and a while, but this is the most I have seen here in Williamsburg,” he added.