Ville Platte Police Department warns local businesses of counterfeit scheme

Recently, the Ville Platte Police Department has received several complaints from businesses who have discovered counterfeit bills.
Ville Platte Police Chief Neal Lartigue warns businesses to check for watermarks, color fibers, vertical security threads and other identifiers that will help determine if a bill is fake or counterfeit. If there is bleeding ink anywhere on the bill, then the bill is certainly suspicious and likely counterfeit. Lartigue also stated that it is important to note that the most commonly used counterfeit detection pen does not work on these bills and should not be the only verification used. Visual inspection can help determine if it is real or counterfeit.
If you see anything suspicious that would make you think the bill is counterfeit then you should be cautious and call the Ville Platte Police Department and report this information.
Lartigue reports that several businesses have fallen victim to recent counterfeit bills and the amount has now reached almost $ 500 combined. Some of the bills are $20 bills but the counterfeit bills are not limited to 20s.
“If you have what you believe to be a counterfeit bill at your business, please call right away,” Lartigue said. “Calling after the customer leaves allows them to move on and do this to another business.” Quickly identifying these suspects will stop the distribution of these bills to other businesses.
If you have information on counterfeit money recently being distributed in the area or if you think that you have counterfeit money that is being presented at your business, call the Ville Platte Police Department at 363-1313. Your call will remain anonymous.