Merchants report fake $100 bills

Several counterfeit $100 bills have been circulating around the Mother Lode in the past few days.

The Sonora Police Department received five reports of counterfeit bills and the Angels Camp Police Department has received one. The bills appear to be acid-washed $5 bills with the image of a $100 bill printed over them, according to Sonora Police Chief Mark Stinson.

An employee at the Baskin-Robbins on Mono Way accepted a counterfeit $100 bill from a customer Monday morning, according to Sonora Police Department logs. Police are reviewing video surveillance of the person who paid with the bill.
Counterfeit bills were also received yesterday at the Earth and Ocean Boardshop on Mono Way and the Day-O Espresso on South Washington Street.

A release from the Sonora Police Department described the suspect passing the bills as a white male adult with brown hair, about 5 feet 10 inches tall and of medium build. He normally purchases items of low cost and receives a large amount of change, police said.

These are the first reports of counterfeit bills received this year, Stinson said. Last year, the Police Department arrested two people in possession of bogus $100 bills and received six reports of people passing or receiving phony money, in addition to reports concerning smaller counterfeit bills.

The Sonora Police Department is encouraging merchants not to rely on counterfeit-detector pens, which only test paper and not the ink on the acid-washed bills.

The Angels Camp Police Department received a report of a counterfeit $100 bill from Scott’s Yogurt Factory on Main Street in Angels Camp on Tuesday.

Merchants can detect counterfeit bills by looking for a blue ribbon on the front of the bill. On new $100 bills, the ribbon shows small bells that change to the number 100 when the bill is tilted. Tilting the bill from side to side will make the bells and numbers on the ribbon move. The ribbon is woven into the paper, not printed on it.

The new $100 bills also feature the image of a bell inside the copper-colored inkwell on the front of the bill. Tilting the bill changes the color of the bell from copper to green, which makes it blend with the paper. The older and newer $100 bills have other security features listed on the U.S Treasury website.

To report receipt of a counterfeit bill or information on the suspect, Sonora residents should call the Sonora Police Department at 532-8141. The Angels Camp Police Department can be reached at 736-2567.