BANGOR, Maine — Local businesses in Bangor have fallen victim to some customers purposely using counterfeit bills. Bangor Police Department has received at least four reports. The alleged perpetrators are only using counterfeit $100 bills.
“Ultimately, the business who accepts it as legal tender then goes to bring it to the bank, and it’s counterfeit, and that’s just an ultimate loss for the business," Betsy Lundy, executive director of the Downtown Bangor Partnership, said. "There is no way to recoup those funds. They just have to take the hit."
While Bangor Police Department refused to identify any particular stores where the alleged criminals tried to pass on the fake $100 bills, Sgt. Jason McAmbley commented on the variety of the size of the businesses.
“A small business that literally has a handful of employees to a couple of businesses that employ over 100 people,” McAmbley said.
In order to combat this financial scam, Bangor Police Department and the Downtown Bangor Partnership are urging stores to test mark every $100 bill they encounter.
“Invest in some of the markers that you can use to swipe a bill and determine if it’s real or fake,” Lundy said.
“If you get in the habit of marking every bill and know what it looks like, then everybody gets their bill marked,” McAmbley said.
McAmbley spoke from experience from his time encountering fake money.
“One of the things that I recall from fake bills is that they smell different. They don’t smell like money. Money has a smell,” McAmbley said.