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Counterfeiters pass off photocopied bills By SARAH LEMON Fake $100 bills are finding their way into Medford tills, and police are asking for help finding the counterfeiters. Employees at six businesses were fooled into accepting the counterfeit currency, police said. The suspects - a man and a woman - target female clerks working alone when trying to pass off the photocopied bills accented with a green felt pen. If the clerks hesitate accepting the bills, the suspects reportedly harass them, saying the bill is one of the new counterfeit-proof 100s and that they don't have time to be delayed while the clerk looks at it. "The customer is not always right, especially when they're trying to pass a counterfeit $100 bill," said Medford police Lt. Mike Moran. The suspects passed a bill to the Human Bean coffee stand on Stewart Avenue and Holly Street on Sept. 17. Employees at Subway on North Phoenix Road accepted a bill on Sunday, and Ciao Bella on East Jackson Street was hit Monday. Bimor Gas on East Main Street, Lechter's Housewares in the Rogue Valley Mall and Baskin Robbins in the Bear Creek Plaza were duped by the counterfeit currency Tuesday. A video camera in Baskin Robbins caught the suspects on tape, Moran said. Police are seeking a man in his late 30s who stands between 5 feet 7 inches and 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs about 175 pounds. Witnesses - who gave police similar suspect descriptions - said he has "very small teeth" and a "little belly." He reportedly wears jeans, long, untucked T-shirts and a blue or white baseball cap. Is it counterfeit? When a real $100 bill is held up to the light: - An image of Ben Franklin's face appears to the right of the green Department of Treasury seal. - A security thread is seen running through the bill vertically to the left of the portrait. It contains the words "USA 100." - The green 100 in the lower-right corner will turn black when viewed at an angle. The female suspect is described as being in her mid-30s, standing approximately 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighing 125 pounds. She has collar-length, dyed dark-red hair. The duo may have been driving a late 1970s-model faded or oxidized blue hatchback car, witnesses told police. They also were seen in a late-'70s-model blue pickup with paint cans in the back or a 1980s-model white truck, sometimes seen with a cream-colored canopy. Anyone with information on these two suspects is asked to call the Medford Police Department at 541-774-2544, ext. 2820. If retailers are passed a bill they suspect is counterfeit, they should put it in the till and tell the customer that they will call police to examine it, Moran said. Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.