Phony $5s popping up

By By Leada Gore, Hartselle Enquirer
Some funny money is going around Hartselle and it’s no laughing matter.
Hartselle Police said counterfeit $5s have been reported at several area merchants, mostly fast food restaurants and gas stations.
Hartselle Police Lt. Justin Barley said police have received several reports of counterfeit $5 and are working to see if there’s a pattern to indicate from where the bills are coming.
Vinemont resident Shelia Dulz said she received a phony bill, in her case a $10, at a Hartselle gas station last weekend. She said she and her husband received the bill in change and then tried to use it at a grocery store where a self-checkout machine rejected the bill.
Dulz said she and her husband took the bill to a bank to have it checked where it was confirmed it was counterfeit.
The US Government redid the $5 in 2008 with a goal of making it harder to counterfeit. The new $5 bills include two watermarks and a security thread that runs vertically across the money. It also contains enhanced portraits of President Abraham Lincoln.
Ten dollar notes were revised in 1999 with added security features, including a more detailed portrait of President Alexander Hamilton and a plastic security strip that glows under black light.
Those efforts apparently aren’t enough to stop some counterfeiters, though.
Barley said if you receive a counterfeit bill, you should turn it in to the police department. That doesn’t lessen the sting, however.
How to spot counterfeit money
Source: US Secret Service