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By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune September 29. 2014 3:36PM Medford sees a surge in bogus bills Three new forgery cases involving bogus, small-billed cash popped up around Medford over the weekend. Medford police reported smaller bill denominations — fives and tens — were passed at Tinseltown, the Central Avenue Shell gas station and Joe's Sports Bar & Grill. The Tinseltown and Shell station incidents were both reported during the evening of Saturday, Sept. 27. Authorities got a suspect description in the Shell station incident: a white man about 6 feet tall with black hair and a mustache who purchased a pack of cigarettes with fake cash. The Joe's Sports Bar & Grill incident happened Sunday, Sept. 28. In that case, a white woman about 5 feet 3 inches and weighing around 120 pounds with blonde hair and pink highlights paid for drinks with bogus bills. She drove away in a blue Mazda 323. Anyone with information on either suspect should contact Medford police at 541-770-4784. The bills in all cases were described by police as "poor quality" with no security strip or watermark that would identify them as legitimate currency. Additionally, the bills were cut from paper and had a different feel than actual bills made with a cotton fiber-linen mix. Medford police said the number of counterfeiting cases is surging after a relatively quiet first half of 2014, which saw roughly half as many cases as a year earlier.  From January to June of this year, police investigated 104 forgery cases, a 49 percent drop from the 205 cases in the similar period of 2013. Recently that's changed, though. "It is starting to pick up again," Medford police Lt. Mike Budreau said, adding he's not sure why the sudden increase in activity is happening. "We're trying to spread the word on Facebook." The uptick is highlighted by two significant cases from the last three months. Last month, two California women were sentenced to more than three years in prison for ripping off $4,500 worth of merchandise and gift cards using fake travelers checks and fraudulent exchanges in July. A Grants Pass resident was arrested two weeks ago for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars in music equipment from Medford and Grants Pass stores using fake $100 bills. Those large cases are outliers, however. Most counterfeit cases involve smaller fake bills like fives and tens that typically don't draw as much scrutiny from clerks, Budreau said. Reach reporter Ryan Pfeil at 541-776-4468 or [email protected] . Follow him at www.twitter.com/ryanpfeil .   http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20140929/NEWS/140929650 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->