Counterfeit $100 dollar bills circulating across Cedar Rapids (2024)

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (Iowa's News Now) — Cedar Rapids Police are asking Iowans to be on the lookout for counterfeit $100 dollar bills being passed around in the area.

After an investigation by their Financial Crimes Investigators, they say the bills are copies of reprinted $10 dollars bills made to look like $100 dollar bills before 2007.

Counterfeit pens by retailers fail to detect the fakes due to the fabric and paper being real.

Here are some clues to see if the $100 bills are fake:

1. Bills that have the same serial numbers.
2. The security thread running vertically in the bill is in the incorrect spot. The thread in a genuine $100 bill is to the left of the Franklins portrait. The security thread for the counterfeit $100 bill is to the right of the portrait.
   
3. The watermark is also incorrect in the counterfeits. In genuine currency, both the watermark image and the portrait are the same person AND are facing in the same direction. The counterfeit $100s are facing opposite directions and are different images. The counterfeit $100 bills have the watermark of Hamilton when it should be Franklin.
   
4. All genuine bills should be crisp and clear.
   

To learn more on how to evaluate money authenticity click on this link.