In these challenging economic times and with technology being readily available, counterfeit money is in circulation In 2008, $64.4 million was in the US economy.

How to check if your bills are real? According to the US Secret Service, you should be looking for the differences between the same denominations of bills Check the portrait, the Federal Reserve and Treasury seals, border, serial number and the paper If you think the money is not real, refuse to accept it Ask for another bill If the bill is real, the person who has possession can easily exchange it at their bank.

Older bills, before 1996 are still in circulation and do NOT have these new security features and therefore may seem counterfeit to you Older bills are harder to detect Again, you simply refuse to accept them when receiving money.

Counterfeit bills are out there everywhere The person who possesses the counterfeit money is the person who loses So if you accept counterfeit bills and attempt to use them, it’s your loss (regardless of where you got them from) Check your change before you accept it to be safe.