WESTFIELD–The city’s police department is urging businesses to be careful when accepting $100 bills, after police claim that a group may be attempting to pass counterfeit $100 bills at stores.
Westfield Police Capt. Michael McCabe reported that allegedly a fraudulent $100 bill was found in a store’s cash drawer this past week. Police reportedly had a description of suspects, in addition to a vehicle that they may have been in, but no arrests were made. McCabe believes that this may be tied to other similar crimes in the greater Westfield area but noted that this may be the only occurrence in Westfield.
“We believe there is a group attempting to pass counterfeit $100 bills,” McCabe said. “They are purchasing small items and then taking the change.”
MICHAEL MCCABE
McCabe urged businesses to be vigilant about making sure that the paper money they receive is not counterfeit. There are a number of security features on bills issued by the US Federal Reserve, but McCabe suggests that businesses should focus on the security band that is to the left of the portrait on the front of the bill running vertically. According to uscurrency.gov, the band should be visible if you backlight the bill, and will have “USA” and the number “100” on it as well, alternating on both sides of the strip.
Other security features, according to uscurrency.gov, include a watermark of Benjamin Franklin to the right of the portrait, color-shifting ink on the “100” in the corner of the bill, a 3-D security ribbon that runs to the right of the portrait that alternate both bells and a “100” when you move the bill side-to-side, among other features.
For a complete list of features, you can visit the uscurrency.gov website and find them for $100 bills, as well as other currency.
