Be on the lookout for phony $100 bills

Counterfeit $100 bills recently have been passed to local businesses, a local bank told the Kalispell

Police Department.

Counterfeit $100 bills recently have been passed to local businesses, a local bank told the Kalispell Police Department.

Over the last two weeks, the bank has received several counterfeit $100 bills, and a variety of businesses have received the fake currency as well. The pens commonly used to identify fraudulent currency have failed to recognize these bills as counterfeit.

Kalispell police offer these tips in identifying counterfeit bills:

-Hold the bill up to the light and look for a security thread or watermark. Under ultraviolet light, the security thread in a $100 bill, located between the Federal Reserve seal and Ben Franklin's picture, will glow red or pink.

-If more than one bill is presented, check the serial numbers to make sure they're different.

-The bill should have color-shifting ink that changes from green to black when tilted.

-The most common type of counterfeit bills have ink-jet print, which is made up of colored dots visible under a magnifying glass. Ink jet print will run when wet.