Funny Money a Problem in Northwest Tennessee
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TRENTON, Tenn. – Trenton police are warning residents to look out for counterfeit money after some people tried to spend some of it at a local post office. But how can you tell the difference between real money and fake money? 7 Eyewitness News learned a few tricks to tell the difference. However, police said it is easy to think fake bills are real, even if you often deal with money. Trenton police said three people tried to spend seven fake $20 bills out of several thousand dollars to buy money orders at a local post office. A worker discovered it by using a counterfeit detector pen. “If a bill is a real bill, the ink will turn brown. If it’s a counterfeit bill, then the ink will turn black,” said Trenton Police Chief Will Sanders. If you do not have a counterfeit detector pen, officers told 7 Eyewitness News one way you can tell if money is real is by the security strip, if it has been made since 1990. If you hold it up to a light, you can see the strip. “If you look at the bill and inspect it very closely, you will be able to see what appears to be red and blue hair strands. In counterfeit money, you will not see those red and blue fibers,” Sanders said. Chief Sanders said you can also tell the difference by how the money feels. But even if you have been trained to tell the difference, you can still get it wrong. Of the 10 people 7 Eyewitness News asked which bill was fake, three of them were wrong, and one of them is a former cashier. “It felt like I was in a rush, but I just decided I would just take a stab at it and I was wrong,” said Milan resident Daniel Hardy. “If you don’t pay attention, you’ll get duped.” Police said it is better to be careful than to lose money in the end. “I’m hoping to pay a little bit more attention, ’cause that may be a good idea,” Hardy said. Chief Sanders advises businesses that work with money to get a counterfeit detector pen. He said they are worth the money, and are even free at some banks. Trenton police said they released the suspects after questioning them, because they did not have enough evidence to charge them with using the counterfeit money. According to officials with several West Tennessee law enforcement agencies, using fake money is not a trend. It comes and goes.
