‘It’s been costly for us’: Spike in counterfeit bills hurts business
By Kathryn Merck
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WISCONSIN DELLS, Wisconsin (WISC) — According to Wisconsin Dells Police, there has been an increase of reports of counterfeit bills in the area, and one local business has felt the impact.
Jeff Maurer is the owner of Maurer’s Market. He says his business always sees counterfeit money during this summer, but this year has been different.
“It’s been very costly for us, especially as a small business,” Maurer said. “It hurts like crazy because we work so hard.”
According to Sgt. Brent Brown with the Wisconsin Dells Police Department, the agency has received seven counterfeit bill complaints between Aug. 1 and Sept. 11.
Of those seven counterfeit bills, one was determined not to be counterfeit. Another bill was denied by the business and the suspects left prior to police’s arrival.
Sgt. Brown says there appears to be multiple suspects behind the use of the counterfeit bills, but there has not been any confirmation of who the person or people behind the bills may be.
Scott Rockwell, the President of the Bank of the Wisconsin Dells, says that when a bank receives a counterfeit bill, it preserves the bill as evidence and submits it to the appropriate authorities.
The bank president says they’ve reported counterfeit bills to the local police department and have informed the public about the bills through its Facebook page.
“The notification is to create awareness on the type of bills and denominations being passed, in an effort to prevent further acceptance or circulation of the counterfeit bills,” Rockwell said to News 3 Now in an email.
Businesses can avoid accepting these bills by looking over the money they accept. Sgt. Brown says many times, the feel of the counterfeit bill is not consistent with real money. Water markings along with security threads can also be helpful to point out the bills.
Maurer’s Market has been using specific pens designed to detect counterfeit bills. Maurer says he hopes police find the people who have been behind the increase of these bills in the Wisconsin Dells.
“Being a small business owner, family owned, knowing how hard we work trying to serve the community and then to have some people come our store and steal from us and hurt our business further,” Maurer said. “I hope they are working on our behalf to get these people.”
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