Those new 20-dollar bills are supposed to be counterfeit-proof, still, Iowans need to be on-guard for a batch of bogus bills floating around. Des Moines Police Lieutenant Kelly Willis says 13 counterfeiting cases have been reported in the past two months just in Des Moines. Willis says the bills are obviously fake, but they’re getting past distracted clerks. He says the counterfeiters target convenience stores that are busy.Willis says the counterfeits are being made on a color photocopier. While they’re good fakes, he says they aren’t hard to identify as bogus, as the new -real- 20s have several indicators.that includes color-shifting ink, a watermark and identifying dark fibers within the bill. Willis says merchants in stores across Iowa need to be on the lookout for the fakes.Des Moines police investigators are turning over the findings of their cases to the Secret Service, as counterfeiting is a federal crime.

Radio Iowa