Local retailers are falling victim to stolen dyed Canadian bills and counterfeit U.S. currency.
On July 24th, a male entered the 7-11 store at Burnside and Harriet and passed some stained bills. The male suspect purchased a prepaid gift card and a cell phone. He then produced twenty $20.00 bills, all of which were stained with purple dye. Later, the bills were thought to be suspectby the manager and police were called.
The investigation revealed that these bills had been taken from an ATM attack in the Okanagan area on July 11th. A total of $70,000.00 was believed to have been stolen from the machine and only about $20,000.00 has been recovered.
On August 5th, a male entered a retailer in the Quadra and McKenzie area and passed about $200 in US currency with the clerk. The currency was later found to be counterfeit. At least two reports recently of similar bills being passed have been received.
The Saanich Police would like to caution local retailers that both these dyed bills and the counterfeit bills are being passed in our community. If you suspect that bills may be counterfeit or see stained bills, do not accept them and contact your local police.
A link to the U.S. Secret Service web page on identifying counterfeit U.S. currency is included below:
http://www.secretservice.gov/know_your_money.shtml
11-15539/11-16492