Charles City police warn to be on the lookout for counterfeit cash

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

Charles City merchants are advised to be on the lookout for counterfeit currency as several fake bills have been found circulating through the community.

“They’re doing everything,” said Police Chief Hugh Anderson. “20s, 100s, even down to 10s and 5s.”

Multiple businesses have reported the fake cash, which authorities suspect is being bought off the internet, prompting them to remind cashiers to be vigilant when accepting cash purchases.

“The biggest thing for businesses is to test them,” said Anderson.

This advice also applies to non-business sellers as well. Particularly people selling things locally through services like Facebook Marketplace where informal cash transactions are common.

While some of the fake bills in circulation may pass as authentic from a cursory glance, many will fail under even a slight amount of scrutiny.

The police have collected fake bills made for movie props labeled “For Motion Picture Purposes” along with counterfeits with Chinese markings printed on paper that feels notably different than legitimate dollars at a touch.

“Most of the money is pretty obvious,” said Anderson.

Anderson says that one local arrest has already been made of somebody trying to use counterfeit cash, but that incidents will likely continue as its use grows across the state.

“I anticipate that it isn’t going away anytime soon,” said Anderson.