MORGANTON, N.C.,None — Counterfeiters in the Morganton area are bleaching $5 bills and repurposing them as $100 bills, investigators said.
When the bills are used at businesses, markers that test the validity of money aren't effective. Public safety officers said the bills look so real that it's difficult to tell the difference.
"They're putting a lot of time into what they're doing and a lot of people are losing a lot of money over it," said Calvin Daniels, with Morganton Public Safety.
Investigators have surveillance video from inside a local Walmart of a man they're calling a suspect, but haven't made any arrests in the case.
Workers at Mike's Exxon said they've heard about the bogus money, but didn't know how to detect it.
"It's surprising that they can bleach out the bill to where it shows it's an accurate bill and it really is not what it says it is," clerk Lou Justice said.
The key to determining whether a bill is real is its watermark. The counterfeit $100s have Abraham Lincoln watermarks, not Ben Franklin watermarks.
Officers said the clerk in the surveillance video did the right thing by holding up the bill to look closely at the watermark. The man ran off after the clerk began checking.
Officers ask that anyone with information about the case call Morganton Public Safety at 828-437-1211. They also said if you suspect money is counterfeit, you should call police right away.