West Hartford Citizens Advised To Be Cautious Of Counterfeit Money

NEW LONDON, CT - New London police are advising businesses and citizens across Connecticut to be cautious and look closely at the currency they receive, especially any $100 bills. The department is currently investigating an incident that occurred Wednesday involving counterfeit currency.

Police said officers have seized a number of $100 bills so far, 13 in total. The investigation is ongoing and no arrests have been made at this time.

Members of the public are urged to contact police immediately upon coming in contact with any suspicious or counterfeit currency.

Police also advise citizens to be aware of the security features located on currency. The three main security features located on bills are:

Color shifting ink on the dollar amount located on the face side in the bottom right corner.

• Color-shifting ink can be found on $100, $50 and $20 dollar bills series 1996 and later, and on $10 dollar bills series 1999 and later.
• $5 and lower bills do not yet have this feature. The color originally appeared to change from green to black, but it goes from copper to green in recent redesigns of the bills.

Security threads which display the denomination of the currency embedded in the bill.

• The thread is embedded in (not printed on) the paper and runs vertically through the clear field to the left of the Federal Reserve Seal. On authentic bills, this should be easily visible against a light source.

Watermarks located on the face of the bill on the right side.

• Use natural light to see if the bill bears an image of the person whose portrait is on the bill.
• Hold the bill up to a light to check for a watermark. A watermark bearing the image of the person whose portrait is on the bill can be found on all $10, $20, $50 and $100 bills series 1996 and later, and on $5 bills series 1999 and later.
• The watermark is embedded in the paper to the right of the portrait and should be visible from both sides of the bill.

Visit https://www.secretservice.gov/data/KnowYourMoney.pdf for further information.