Check Your Big Bills

Bogus bills being passed in Jefferson County

05:05 PM CDT on Monday, August 17, 2009

HILLSBORO, Mo. (AP) -- Businesses in Jefferson County have been warned to be on the lookout for counterfeit $100 bills being passed in the community.

Sheriff Glenn Boyer said several counterfeit $100 bills have been passed in recent days at businesses in the northern part of the county.

He said they are actually $5 bills that have been washed and made to look like $100 bills. They'll pass the test of a special pen used to detect fake bills because the bills are authentic currency, just not the right amount.

Boyer suggests two other ways to detect fake bills: hold the bill up to the light and look for the Lincoln face in the lower right corner, or a strip in the bill that says "U.S. Five Dollars."