Jones County Sheriff’s Office helping business owners crack down on counterfeit money
GRAY, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Several counterfeit hundred dollar bills have been floating around in Jones County. Now the sheriff’s office is on high alert. Businesses too.
Normally, a typical day at Kema’s Hobby is a quiet one. A few patrons catch up on their favorite books, or take a stroll through the thousands of novels that sit on store shelves.
Although, when people come to the register ready to buy, owner Kema Clark is always thinking back to when she was tricked.
“The $50, I did my marker with it and everything, nothing, everything turned up just fine,” Clark said.
Clark was a victim to a counterfeit money scam, twice.
One $20 bill, the other a $50.
She took the bills to her local bank, where they told her it was a fake.
“People will say ‘oh you lost $50, you lost $20,’ well really I lost twice that because they bought the book, and I lost my book, which really makes me mad,” Clark said.
It’s a mutual feeling Clark shares with the Jones County Sheriff’s Office.
Recently, several $100 bills have been floating around the county and they’re looking to put a stop to it.
Clay Wiggins with the sheriff’s office says counterfeiters take measures to the extreme to make a fake bill.
“What they’ll do is they’ll take a lower denomanation bill like a $1 or a $5, and then somehow bleach it out or take the ink off of it. The feel is still there because it’s the same paper,” Wiggins said.
And while Clark is always conscious of a fake bill slipping through the cracks, she’s not letting it stop her from running her business.
“I do those minor things, and if I get caught again, that’s just one of those things,” Clark said.
The Jones County sheriff’s office says if you ever come across a counterfeit bill, contact your local law enforcement. Touch it as little as possible.
FOR A FULL LIST OF TIPS TO SEE IF A BILL YOU HAVE IS FAKE:
Click the link below:
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