Counterfeit $20 and $100 bills used at two Bamberg County businesses

Counterfeit $20 and $100 bills that looked like movie prop money were passed at two Bamberg County businesses, a reminder that even a few fake notes can leave small shops and restaurants absorbing the loss. For cash-heavy counters, the risk is immediate: one bad bill is money a business cannot get back.

The Bamberg Police Department said the fake currency was used on Wednesday, and police did not identify the two businesses or say whether anyone had been arrested. The notes were described as resembling the kind of prop money often seen in film productions, a detail that matters because bills with that look can pass through a quick transaction before a clerk has time to inspect them closely.

That is exactly the kind of gap counterfeiters depend on. The United States Secret Service says the threat from counterfeit U.S. currency continues to evolve as scanning and printing technology improves. The Federal Reserve says anyone who receives a counterfeit note loses that money, because a fake bill cannot be exchanged for a genuine one.

For merchants in Bamberg, Denmark, Ehrhardt, Olar and Govan, the warning is less about one isolated transaction than about the need to slow down at the register. Federal training materials say cash handlers should look, feel and tilt bills, and the U.S. Currency Education Program says current $20 and $100 notes carry security features such as color-shifting ink, watermarks, a security thread and a 3-D Security Ribbon. Training employees to spot those markers is one of the best defenses against passing the loss to the business.

The case also fits a broader pattern across South Carolina, where counterfeit-cash incidents have surfaced in other counties, including a Gaffney smoke-shop raid that turned up fake cash and a Chesterfield County case involving movie prop money. In Bamberg County, where the sheriff’s office says its mission is to protect life and property and reduce crime and fear of crime, the counterfeit alert is both a policing issue and a day-to-day business problem.

Police said anyone with details such as a passer’s description or vehicle information should take those leads to local law enforcement, where they can be forwarded to the Secret Service if needed. For clerks standing behind the counter right now, the message is simple: check the bill before it goes in the drawer.