Pennsylvania State Police warn businesses of counterfeit bills

PENNSYLVANIA — State police are putting out a warning for area businesses to be aware of counterfeit $100 bills being passed in the area.

Police aren’t sure if it is someone passing the bills on purpose, or if someone may be doing it unknowingly.

”The concern is how many of these $100 bills are out there,” Trooper Steve Limani said. “This $100 bill is reacting the same way, so it’s sort of passing that pen test.”

State police showed Channel 11 how the ink is showing up on the fake bills compared to the real one.

The color is almost identical. Investigators were called out to Sally’s Beauty in Hempfield Township after someone passed one of these counterfeit bills.

The worker questioned its legitimacy, asked the customer for a smaller bill and did the ink test herself, but ended up calling state police.

The investigating trooper took the bill to the bank.

”(He) walks into the PNC bank, shows them the $100 bill, and lo and behold, they have the same $100 bill with the same serial numbers, sitting in the drawer they’re going to be sending to the Secret Service as well; that $100 bill was part of a night drop from their business,” Limani said.

Police said of the few they’ve seen circulating, they’re all older $100 bills and they pass the ink detection test, but the big difference is the serial number.

The fake bills all have this same serial number — B22081273B — and that’s what investigators want businesses to be on the lookout for.

”Be cognizant of that, please share your information with the employees at your stores, and obviously if you’ve taken any of these bills, save your security footage so we can review that,” Limani said.

State police will be sending their report and that counterfeit bill to the Secret Service.

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