Phony $20 bills have been circulating on St. Croix for at least a week and also may have spread to St. Thomas and St. John, the V.I. Police Department’s Insular Affairs Unit announced Sunday.
With the influx of visitors to the territory, residents must have the knowledge to identify counterfeit bills if they receive them as payment for services, police said.
Police Commissioner Novelle E. Francis Jr. asked the public to use a few simple tips to determine if the money they receive is legitimate.
• Look for shifting color on the bills. The color on the number on the lower right-hand side of the bill is made with color shifting ink. If the color does not shift, the bill is not authentic.
• When you hold the bill up to the light you can see the face on the bill repeated as watermark in the unprinted space on the right side of the portrait. The watermark can be seen from both sides of the bill.
• You can also see the security thread when holding the bill up to the light. The security thread is a thin, imbedded strip running from top to bottom on the face of the bill. In $10 and $50 bills the strip is located to the right of the portrait, and in the $5, $20, and $100 bill it’s just to the left of the portrait.
• If a bill is held up to an ultraviolet light, each denomination glows a different color. A $5 bill glows blue, a $10 glows orange, a $20 glows green, a $50 glows yellow, and a $100 glows red – if they are the real thing.
• Finally, you can compare the feel and texture of the paper with other bills which you know are authentic. Real bills feel like fabric, counterfeit bills feel more like paper.
“If you discover that a bill in your possession is counterfeit, turn it over to the police,” Francis said. “It’s felony to knowingly pass a counterfeit bill you received to someone else.”
