Reports of people trying to use counterfeit money are spreading across the US.
Headlines are popping up across the country about various attempts to pay with fake money, with ABC News claiming that counterfeiting is “making a comeback.”
Police in Hilo, Hawaii, say someone bleached the ink from $1 bills and printed $100 marks on them, Fox affiliate news station KHON reported.
Police Captain Rio Amon-Wilkins says authorities are looking at several persons of interest in connection with the crime.
“Because it is printed on original US banknotes, the pen still works properly and is not classified as counterfeit. This is, as far as I know, the first time we’ve had this kind of case where they’re using the original U.S. banknotes.”
The report is one of several attempts to use counterfeit money in the US in recent weeks alone:
• In Brownsville, Texas, a man is accused of manufacturing counterfeit dollar bills and using them to pay for groceries, hotels, gas and food.
• In Boardman, Ohio, police say counterfeit money was used to enter a baseball stadium during an ongoing investigation.
• In North Carolina, a man admitted to bleaching $1 bills and printing $100 images on them.
Additionally, police in Germany say they have just seized stacks of fake money with a face value of $103 million, as reported by the Associated Press.
Investigators believe the bad bills came from Turkey and were sent to the US for illegal purposes.
“The notes, known as ‘prop copy’ or ‘movie money’, could be recognized as counterfeits upon close examination, but the German central bank and US authorities believe they could be mistaken for real money in everyday life, they said. police in a statement.
The U.S. Secret Service says it seized $21.8 million in counterfeit money last year, leading to 197 arrests. Although the dollar value of seizures has declined in recent years, the agency warns that counterfeiting techniques are evolving along with technological advances.
“The threat of counterfeit U.S. currency to the United States financial system continues to evolve. Technological advances, the availability of scanning and printing equipment, and the adoption of the US dollar by countries as legal tender have exacerbated the global threat.”
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