Watch out for bogus bills

PALMER — Unfortunately, cabbage won’t be the only homemade greens coming to the Alaska State Fair.

Counterfeit money is a problem that presents itself at the fair every year, said Detective Kelly Turney of the Palmer Police Department. While he could not put a dollar amount on how much changes hands, Turney said the cash nature of most transactions at the fair make it a likely target for funny money.

There is no set profile for counterfeiters at the fair, he said. It can be as simple as a teenager with a scanner and printer or a more sophisticated operation with multiple people passing bills in different locations, Turney said. Counterfeiters typically try to exchange larger denomination bills — $20s, $50s or $100s — for change in legitimate money.

Most of the counterfeit attempts are made on amusement rides, he said. Because of this, Palmer police meets with the ride operators before the fair. They have just come from the fair in Fairbanks and let the police know if there were any problems there.

While individual vendors may not have any formal training in spotting counterfeits, there are some basic things to look for, Turney said.

• The feel of an authentic dollar bill is very hard to replicate, and there should be red and blue cotton fibers in the paper.

• There is the magnetic strip on side, color changing ink on some of the numbers and the newer bills have watermarks visible when held to the light.

• Mark a bill with a pen that identifies real money. The ink will be yellow or clear if it is a real bill and drastically change colors if it is fake.

“Take your time. Check those few things on the large denomination bills,” Turney said. “There are counterfeit pens available at any office supply store.”

Turney said they typically get one or two calls for counterfeit bills each year. Sometimes the vendor or ride operator can identify who the suspect is, sometimes the suspect heads out before he or she can be stopped, he said. Regardless, a report is made and sent with the bills to the U.S. Secret Service, the agency in charge of counterfeit investigations.

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com of 352-2252.