Fake American money

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Retailers around the Golden Horseshoe are being warned to watch out for bogus U.S. bills. The counterfeiters were lying low over the winter, but they’re surfacing again this spring. Working in the Niagara Falls tourist district Matt Akey has seen his share of counterfeit U.S. Bills. “Most restaurants get hit with counterfeit bills once in a while.”

This spring Niagara police are seeing another spike in number of larger U.S. counterfeit bills being passed to retailers. Tim Hortons and convenience stores are popular targets, especially when they’re really busy.

Detective Jeff May has some tips on what to look out for, the images on real bills are crisp and clean. “And then you look around the edge there’s no bleeding, look at how sharp that is.”

Since last spring 58 incidents of U.S. counterfeits have been reported to Niagara police. You’d think counterfeiters would prefer to operate in an area like Niagara Falls that sees a lot of American cash but this is problem right across Southern Ontario. Hamilton police put out a warning to retailers earlier this year, so far they’ve put one counterfeiter behind bars.