Skip to content

Flood of counterfeit bills swamps the region

Police are alerting residents and businesses in the Okanagan and Thompson Valley to a wave of fake currency passing through the region

Police are alerting residents and businesses in the Okanagan and Thompson Valley to a wave of fake currency passing through the region.

On Aug. 8, three counterfeit $100 bills were passed to Salmon Arm businesses. These bills appear to be the same as those passed in other Okanagan communities.

The bill can be identified as fraudulent by noting the silver band across the bill which contains embossed “$5” repeated on this reflective strip.

Video surveillance has been obtained of the male who passed these bills and Salmon Arm police continue to investigate the matter.

“The typical modus operandi is for the passer to make an inexpensive purchase and pay with a large denomination, in turn receiving a large percentage of change back in authentic currency, leaving the bogus bill in the till,” said RCMP spokesman Cpl. Dan Moskaluk.

The RCMP has received 23 complaints about the passing or attempted passing of counterfeit bills in the past two weeks.

The incidents involved bank notes in $20, $50 and $100 denominations and occurred in Salmon Arm, West Kelowna, Penticton, Kamloops, Okanagan Falls and other communities.

Moskaluk said grocery stores, convenience stores and bars are particularly vulnerable to bogus bank note scams.

“Customarily, what we do see at times is that drinking establishments might be victimized because there’s lower light and a higher volume of clientele, so there’s a lower chance of being detected,” he said.

The fake currency is often trafficked on the black market like drugs, he added, with a central manufacturer selling to wholesalers who unload the product to street-level dealers and users.

“Normally we’ll see an individual or a group of individuals pass fake notes in a region for a period of time until public awareness becomes an issue for them, or our investigations are successful. It’s very similar to when we see travelling shoplifters going from town to town,” he said.

Moskaluk said the best protection from counterfeiting for business owners is to be aware and check the security features of bank notes. Most bank notes issued since 2000 feature a “ghost image” of a prime minister or Queen Elizabeth II when tilted to the light, a holographic strip and a vertical “security thread.”