Sellers, beware. Counterfeit bills were discovered circulating in Haines. Local business owner Mike Ward discovered two fake $100 bills on two separate occasions while sorting money for a bank deposit. The bogus bills were used to purchase items from the Alaska Liquor Store and Howsers, Ward said.
Three fake banknotes, all of a different style of counterfeit, have been turned in to or discovered by the bank since May, according to First National Bank Alaska officials.
One of the bills had red Chinese characters on black lines on it, Ward said. “We just revamped our training,” Ward said. “We just have to trust our cashiers to be vigilant and not take anything that looks fake.”
Ward said he receives a fake bill every few years, but has never found more than one. He brought the fake currency to the bank, once in June and again in July. Bank staff forwarded the bills to the company’s security officer, Don Krohn.
Krohn retired from the Anchorage Police Department where he worked white collar crime, and has been the security officer at First National for the past 16 years. Finding fake money is common, Krohn said. “Throughout all the branches, about 29 locations now, somebody’s picking up counterfeits every other day throughout the state.”
Counterfeits typically range from printed paper money to bills used as props in the movie industry, Krohn said. “There are some bills going around now that have some Chinese figures on them and we had that translated and basically the money is used in China for training,” Krohn said. “What kind of training, I don’t know.”
Krohn said everyone should be aware how to spot fake money. Real money is printed on fabric, not paper, and textured ridges can be felt by running a fingernail across the bill. Most bills have color- shifting ink, which changes color depending on the angle. Another tip for spotting fakes is if someone buys an inexpensive item with a large bill. Counterfeiters want to get as much real money back as they can, Krohn said.
“Most of the people who have counterfeit money coming to the banks are victims,” Krohn said. “The bad guys don’t come to the banks, they go to the merchants. You’d be surprised at the amount of people who are walking around with counterfeits that don’t know that they have them.”
When Krohn receives counterfeit bills, he reports it to local authorities or the Secret Service.
Although rare in the winter, between $200 to $300 worth of fake money circulates around Haines each summer, Haines Police chief Heath Scott said.