Counterfeit bills found in Bloomington-Normal
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<p align="justify">Counterfeit money printed on currency paper has been recovered by Bloomington and Normal police, who say counterfeit-detection pens do not work on the bills.
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<p align="justify">Fifteen bills have been found. Bloomington police have recovered eight bleached $5 bills - seven reprinted to look like $50 bills and one made to look like a $100 bill - from seven locations since mid-June. Normal police have recovered seven counterfeit $50 bills from six area businesses.
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<p align="justify">Bloomington police spokesman Duane Moss said one business received two counterfeit $50 bills, while the rest were used in separate incidents. One Normal business also received two $50 bills, Normal Police Assistant Chief Kirk Ijams said.
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<p align="justify">All the $50 bills recovered in Bloomington-Normal have the same serial numbers, Ijams said.
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Bloomington police issued a warning to the McLean County Chamber of Commerce to forward to area businesses.
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<p align="justify">Police said the U.S. Secret Service has been notified. Secret Service officials could not be reached for comment Friday.
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<p align="justify">Moss said the fake bills cannot be detected by counterfeit-detection pens used by many businesses. Those pens leave black marks on wood-based paper.
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<p align="justify">"These bills are made with actual currency using bleached out $5 bills. The pens are designed to react to starch found in typical wood-based paper. The fabric used for currency is not standard wood-base paper," Moss said.
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<p align="justify">Ijams said anyone receiving $50 bills should look for other security measures. For instance, a real $50 bill has color-changing ink in the front, lower right side. The fake bills do not.
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<p align="justify">Also, holding the bill up to the light will reveal the security strip running through the bill and the watermark image. Those security measures survive the bleaching process and reveal the bill's original denomination.
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<p align="justify">"If you look on a $50 bill and you look at the watermark and it's Abe Lincoln rather than Ulysses S. Grant, that's a good indication it's a forgery," Ijams said.
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<p align="center">Reach Journal Star reporter Fitzgerald M. Doubet at (309) 686-3041 or state@pjstar.com.
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