VALDESE, N.C. — Channel 9’s Dave Faherty found out that fake $100 bills are fooling workers in area counties and they are now taking precautions in hopes to catch the people responsible.
Employees and police told Faherty the bills look like they are older, from the 1980s, and that when checked with a counterfeit detection pen, they come back legit.
Investigators in Granite Falls and Newton shared photos of two people they’re hoping to identify who they said passed bogus $100 bills at local stores.
They are currently working three cases.
Hickory police said it has worked four cases, including at Honey Baked Ham Co., over the last week where $100 bills were passed. Workers in Hickory alerted other businesses in the area about the fake money.
“It did not look real so you could tell because it wasn’t rectangular,” said Jared Wachsmuth, manager at Honey Baked Ham. “You could tell one of the lines was slanted.”
Police in Newton confirmed on Wednesday morning that they are working a case involving the counterfeit currency at a local grocery store.
Employees contacted Faherty about more cases in Caldwell County.
A nonprofit, Amorem Thrifts and Gifts, installed equipment to scan the bills to see if they’re real or fake.
“For us, since we’re a nonprofit organization, it hurts us in the long run just because we help patients with hospice care,” said Ethan Pathan, manager at Amorem Thrifts and Gifts. “So, that hurts us and local businesses.”
Pathan said there wasn’t anything alarming about the suspect.
“He was pretty confident and relaxed,” Pathan said. “He just came in and handed a hundred-dollar bill and just was waiting for us to say yes or no about it because it was 1989.”
Police in Valdese said some of the serial numbers on the bills were identical. In Newton, the chief said they have several good leads.
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