Recently, the Everett Police
Department arrested a 21 year old man for using counterfeit money to pay for
personal electronics through Craiglist listings. Multiple people were
victimized. Everett PD worked with several local police agencies and the Secret
Service. Law enforcement officers seized additional counterfeit money and
money-making equipment at his home.
Note: We usually think of counterfeiting as a
problem for retail businesses. While businesses do need to be careful about the
cash that they accept, individuals selling items on Craigslist or other social
media sales sites for cash also need to be aware of the legitimacy of the money
that they accept. Here are a few pointers:
- Compare suspicious money with
genuine bills.
- Pay attention to the feel of the
paper.
- Look for tiny red and blue
fibers embedded in the paper. Genuine bills have them counterfeit bills do
not have them or an attempt has been made to print them on the paper.
- Examine the serial numbers to be
sure that they all match and are evenly spaced.
- Look for a security thread
running from top to bottom.
- Businesses should have a
counterfeit detection pen at the cash register. Mark suspicious bills with
it; a black mark indicates a fake bill; no mark shows it is genuine.
- For more information go to www.secretservice.gov/know_your_money.shtml
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