Funny money making way through Hale
Published 12:00 am Monday, May 17, 2004
GREENSBORO-There has been some funny money floating about in the City of Greensboro over the past few months. Counterfeit $20s and $50s have been recovered from various locations in Greensboro.
Greensboro Police Chief Claude Hamilton said the manager of Piggly Wiggly in Greensboro Mikeal Taylor reported the last incident with counterfeit money on May 4. He said Taylor reported to the police that while counting the money they discovered a fake $50.
“This wasn’t the first store to be hit by counterfeit money in Greensboro,” Hamilton said, ” The Chevron in Greensboro also reported receiving counterfeit money.”
He said over the past three months three businesses in the Greensboro area have reported counterfeit money. He also said the police department has recovered close to $100 in mixed bills so far.
“People need to become more aware of the money they are carrying around because you may be carrying some counterfeit money right now,” Hamilton said.
He said some of the major differences between real greenbacks and funny money are the paper the bill is printed on and the color changing numeral on the corner of the bill. He also said the most notable feature of a counterfeit bill to him was the way the bill felt in his hands.
“It’s really noticeable if you just roll it around in your hand,” Hamilton said, “The stock of the paper is totally different.”
He said people would try and get other people to make change for them while on the street. He also said people would try to pass them off in a dark area like a club or something.
“One of the easiest ways to get tricked into taking fake bills is when they mix them with a group of real bills and get people to give them change,” Hamilton said.