MORRIS – According to the Morris Police Department, over the weekend several business in Morris were given counterfeit $100 bills.
The counterfeit $100 bills were all passed by two people, according to the Morris Police District Facebook page.
Surveillance video shows a tall, skinny, black man and a heavyset, shorter black woman driving a small light blue vehicle.
“We have done posts on this before, but with the recent incidents and the holidays approaching, we wanted to again reach out to businesses and encourage you to be vigilant,” the Facebook page said. “Businesses, please take time to educate your employees on counterfeit bills and what to do if they suspect a bill is fake. These particular bills (actual photos attached) were detected because the ink actually smeared when the bill was tested with a marker and the texture of the bill was like regular paper.”
Alert employees in more than one case recognized the bill as odd, according to the police and when they mentioned it to the person presenting it, the suspect immediately left without confrontation.
According to the police Facebook page, it’s a common scam. Suspects will attempt to make a small purchase and pay with the counterfeit $100 bill so they have a large amount of real money.
“Please instruct them to call 911 right away if a fraudulent bill is presented to them. You wouldn’t believe the number of times employees call their manager, best friend or mother before calling us,” The Morris Police Facebook page states.