Sheriff reports counterfeit $100 bills appearing here


Counterfeit $100 bills have appeared in Ozark County recently. The bills have Chinese writing on them, which, according to an online source, can be translated as “not to be used as real currency” and “bill to be used for counting practice.”

Multiple counterfeit $100 bills have been found across the county, Ozark County Sheriff Darrin Reed confirmed Monday. Six of the bills, which have pink and white Chinese symbols on the front and back, were reportedly found in Pontiac and turned in to Century Bank of the Ozarks. 

On a post made about the counterfeit money on the Ozark County Times Facebook page Nov. 6, residents commented that they had found others in Gainesville, including one found lying on the ground at a Gainesville Bullseye parking lot and on the ground near the Missouri-Arkansas state line. 

News stories have been published recently  across the country about bills featuring similar markings. One article from The Modesto (California) Bee website, shows bills with identical markings as the Ozark County counterfeits. The Modesto Bee article says the Chinese writing on the bills can be translated as “not to be used as real currency,” and “bill to be used for counting practice.” Bills such as these are reportedly used by Chinese banks for training purposes only, according to the article, and can be purchased inexpensively online. Most of the time they are legal to buy for their designated purpose. However, it is a crime to use the bills as US currency. 

Although the bills recently found in Ozark County are easy to pick out as fakes, some counterfeit bills are harder to spot. The US Federal Reserve says  the best way to determine if a bill is genuine is to rely on the security features such as the watermark and security thread visible inside the bill when it’s held to the light. Counterfeit-detection pens are not always accurate and may give false results, the Federal Reserve says. 

Ozark County Times

504 Third Steet
PO Box 188
Gainesville, MO 65655

Phone: (417) 679-4641
Fax: (417) 679-3423