The Police Department is warning area merchants to be watchful of counterfeit bills.
Since Dec. 19, nine phony bills have been discovered at various St. Charles businesses on both the east and west sides of the community.
“We need to stay on top of this so we can pinpoint the source,” said St. Charles Crime Prevention Officer Darrin Lee.
The fake currency has come in denominations of $100, $50 and $20. Lee said all of the bills appeared to be made using an inkjet printer.
“The quality of the counterfeiting is not really good,” he said. “If you really look at the bills you can tell right away they’re not legitimate.”
Lee said the department plans to educate businesses to look for signs of fraudulent money, such as smeared ink, lower quality paper and the lack of certain identifying features.
The bills that have been recovered, as well as responsibility for the investigation, have been turned over to the United States Secret Service.