CSPD warns shoppers, merchants of counterfeit cash

Even though we tend to use credit and debit cards more than cash nowadays, Colorado Springs police advise customers to ensure that any cash they use is real and not fake.

Detective Joshua Bliss, of the CSPD Financial Crimes Unit, said counterfeit bills circulate more during the holidays as cash transactions become more common.

Bliss said if you’re found to have counterfeit money — regardless of whether you know where it came from — you could be charged with a felony that could land you in prison for three years.

That fact surprised several shoppers.

“No, I don’t think about counterfeit money,” said Tom Rose. “I use my debit card and credit cards. I really don’t carry cash, so it’s not a concern of mine. But I don’t think it should be on me if I don’t know I have it.”

“I don’t ever think there’s going to be counterfeit money because I trust that the stores are going to look before they accept the bills,” said Farryn Desbouillons. “And I trust that my bank is not going to give me counterfeit bills, either.”

Bliss said visually inspecting a bill by holding up to a light will spot most fakes.

“The watermark description should be a portrait of the same person that’s on the center of the note,” he said. “The $1 bill does not have a watermark on it.”

Bliss said bills also have a security strip that glows under some lights, and an ink that can be verified by trained retail workers.

“The absence of that ink is what will make a vending machine reject a bill,” he said.

Bliss advised people to contact police immediately if they suspect they have a counterfeit bill, and to notify a cashier or manager before leaving a store if they think they’ve been given a fake.

“That way, a manager or a security camera can verify what’s happening,” he said.

Bliss said police are seeing more reports of counterfeit cash from people who meet to finish a transaction that was arranged online.

“We’ve noticed some people are buying guns that way,” he said.