Businesses warned to watch for phony cash

PALMER — A sign over the cash register at the Gold Rush Bar in Palmer reads "watch out, counterfeit $20 bills … they are thicker and off white." Memos like that are appearing in workplaces around the Valley to give employees a heads up whenever counterfeiters start to ply their trade.

So are we seeing a rash of funny money breaking out all over Valley's economic skin? Well no, not exactly. At least not according to Michael Sweazey, a resident agent at the Anchorage Bureau of the United States Secret Service, the federal agency set up in 1865 specifically to protect the U.S. dollar from counterfeiting crimes and has since been expanded into executive branch security and financial fraud investigations.

"We do have some (fake bills) being passed, but it's not what we'd call a big problem," Sweazey said. "We've got some leads on their origin."

Sweazey said his office hadn't put out an alert on the bills and acting Palmer Police Chief George Boatright confirmed he hadn't heard about any counterfeit bills in recent weeks.

So what's with the signs? Employees at the Gold Rush Bar, and the Palmer Carrs/Safeway store said memos appeared at their jobs in the last couple of weeks. Safeway's top Alaskan managers were away in Washington state and couldn't be reached for comment, but a local employee said the alert came from Safeway's Muldoon Carrs store in Anchorage.

Wasilla Fred Meyer store director Burt Teigen said counterfeit bills had been passed recently in a Fairbanks Fred Meyer store, but not in the Valley. It would appear that business people, in an effort to save themselves costly hassles, are alerting each other at a speed faster than the counterfeiters work.

That's fine with Sweazey, who said Alaska's most recent counterfeiting scams were both small time and amateurish.

"If it becomes a severe problem, we'll put out a warning, but the chances of any one person getting one of these bills is pretty small," Sweazey said. "In a small community it gets noticed more."

Sweazey said the fake $20 bills are pretty obvious to people who look carefully at their money. They appear to be printed on a high-resolution color copier or computer printer.

That sort of counterfeit bill has become more popular in recent years as high-tech printing machines have become more affordable. Sweazey said computer- and copier-printed bills are usually an indication the phony cash came from local criminals. Investigating agents can confirm that as bills surface with identical serial numbers or other features in common.

In Alaska, about $1,000 a month comes to the attention of the Secret Service, according to Sweazey, who said the $20 bill was the most common counterfeited U.S. note.

"It's big enough to get some change but small enough that people don't pay much attention to it," Sweazey said. The $20 bill is also the most common bill in circulation, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.

Treasury press releases from 1998 when the new $20 bill was introduced noted the popularity of automated teller machines had increased the demand for $20 bills over the last two decades.

So what's an employer to do? Fred Meyer's Teigen said his company does "some pretty intense training" before a worker is asked to run the cash register. Large companies such as Fred Meyer have learned a few things, since they are common targets of fraud.

The first is that money-handling employees are more likely to be passed fake bills the busier they are. Long lines during prime shopping time and Christmas holidays are likely times to be scammed. Make sure the employees know this too.

Bosses can also post information for employees about which traits are unique to real money, and encourage them to study the information. Sweazey pointed out that people should watch for customers trying to "maximize their change"— in other words, if they are buying a pack of gum with a $20 bill, check it closely.

Small businesses might be less likely to get stuck with fake cash, but it hurts more when they are. Service-sector employees who make change, carry tip cash and always seem to be in a hurry should be trained to protect themselves and their employers.

The Internal Revenue Service allows a tax deduction equal to the dollar amount lost to counterfeiting, if the fake bills are turned in to local or federal officers — a small comfort, but it's designed to encourage reporting, which can help cops put together a case.

Sweazey said counterfeit investigations often dovetail with drug investigations, check scams, and property crimes. When they are caught, the counterfeiters, even those who have made small amounts of fake cash, can face sentences up to 15 years.