PROVO -- Benjamin Franklin has suddenly become the most unpopular man among some small businesses in Utah County.
A number of area merchants have posted signs telling customers they don't accept $100 bills, which bear the image of Franklin. The reason, merchants say, is many of those bills are fake.Their fear of counterfeit cash, it turns out, is founded.
Dennis Crandall of the Secret Service told the Deseret News $8,000 worth of fake $100 bills have been confiscated from St. George to Lindon in recent weeks. On Jan. 24, two women from Southern California were arrested in Beaver County in connection with a suspected nationwide counterfeiting ring.
The most popular targets for passing the phony cash have been convenient stores and fast-food establishments.
"We've had a burst of activity here in Utah involving $100 notes. It's a shock scare, especially in Utah County," Crandall said. "We hope that with these arrests, this will subside rather quickly and things will get back to normal."
The bogus bills are all series 1996 and are the newly designed version the U.S. Treasury Department introduced that year, Crandall said. The new money features an enlarged, off-center portrait of Franklin and was designed to thwart increasingly sophisticated counterfeiters. The bills passed in Utah County, which were made in Colombia, are "much more refined" than most counterfeiting attempts, Crandall said.
The women arrested were to make a first appearance in Beaver County's 4th District Court Wednesday afternoon.
Counterfeit bills were first found circulating in Beaver businesses Jan. 16 and 17 by an alert proprietor, Beaver County sheriff's detective Cameron Noel said.
"It was something about their behavior that made him suspicious," he said. "I contacted the Secret Service and they confirmed the bills were fake."
To pass the fake bills, the women would make small purchases -- usually cigarettes or candy -- pay with the phony 100s and then collect real money in change, Noel said.
When the women came back to Beaver on Jan. 24, the business owner provided police with a positive identification and arrests were made.
In all, about 10 Beaver businesses were hit in the counterfeit scheme, Noel said. He is now in the process of setting up a training session with local business owners and bank employees to improve their counterfeit detection skills.
There are ways to determine if the money is fraudulent, including the Franklin watermark that appears to the right of the portrait. "But these don't look like Benjamin Franklin," Crandall said. "They look more like Marlin Brando."
As for some merchants, the $100-bill scare may not subside for a while. Several businesses are in reactionary mode. Walker Oil Co., which has 14 gas stations and convenience stores in Utah County, has posted signs refusing $100 bills at all its locations.
"We're on pins and needles all around this county," said Mike Walker, vice president of Walker Oil. "It's scared some people, but that's not our intent. We'd rather be safe than sorry."
This practice has caused inconvenience for some customers. A trucker, for instance, stopped by a Walker's service station in Pleasant Grove Tuesday to fuel his big rig. He was coming from Wendover, where he had just won $8,600 -- all in $100 bills. But when he went inside the station to pay for the fuel and saw the sign, he must have felt his luck had run out.
"He was upset," said store manager Joni Alldredge. "But I took one of his $100s. I figured the casinos checked them already."
"Some customers are not really happy about it," said Kelle Jones, a Walker's manager in American Fork, "but we're just protecting ourselves."
Alvin Harward, senior vice president at Central Bank, says 15 of the $100 bills that came through that institution last week were counterfeit. The money was turned into the Secret Service.
Should merchants refuse to accept $100 bills? "Certainly not," Harward said. "It's better to train employees on what to look for and contact the bank if anything suspicious is found. Businesses should train employees to spot counterfeit money."
Several local banks have warned businesses about the $100 notes. The Chambers of Commerce in Springville, Mapleton and Payson have sent faxes to companies in those towns in an attempt to inform and to quell the anxiety.
"Take care, don't be fooled," the fax reads. "If you have questions, call our local banks."
Walker Oil went on alert last week after employees cashed their paychecks at two different banks, one in Orem and one in Pleasant Grove. One of the employees tried to use a $100 bill at a Blockbuster video store and was told it was counterfeit. Upon further inspection, Allredge said, the money did not pass the counterfeit test.
"Each one of the watermark faces (of Franklin) were different," she said. "One had a frown, one had a smiley face, one had his eyes closed, one was winking."
The Treasury Department was consulted but determined they were not counterfeit, according to Allredge. The banks took back the suspect cash. But the incident was enough for the business to post signs refusing $100 notes.
Walker, for one, is not fond of the new bills. "They look like play money," he said. "The new bills were supposed to prevent this."
Deseret News staff writer Jennifer Dobner contributed to this report.