Local business owners speak out after counterfeit $100 bills surface on South Street

PHILADELPHIA (WTXF) - Business owners are speaking out after counterfeit $100 bills surfaced on South Street.

Samarn Inchote is still steaming after one of his customers used a fake $100 bill to pay for takeout food at his Thai restaurant on South Street.

"He should go to jail. it's not only a hundred dollar bill. you have to think about the whole country.

Sawatdee is just one of five businesses on the 1500 block of South Street that either accepted a counterfeit $100 bill or rejected the bill after employees became suspicious. Savannah Smith at So Crepe spotted the fake bill right away when a customer tried twice to use it to pay his bill.

The phoney hundreds were used successfully at Rex 1516 and the Jet Wine Bar, but over at the Quick Fixx, Jonathan Hernandez says his coworker was quick to spot the fake hundred when a customer tried to pay for his takeout order with one last weekend.

"She held it up. The face or whatever it is didn't match up and we didn't accept the bill," he explained.

Agent Al Feaster of the Secret Servic says counterfeit bills are more common place than you would think in our area.

"It's been estimated that anywhere between 45 and $50,000 in counterfeit currency weekly is passed here in Philadelphia field office district," he said.

He explained some of the ways you can spot a fake hundred dollar bill with the naked eye or a black light.

"This is an actual genuine one dollar bill. It has the pyramid on it. You can still see the actual remnants of the pyramid here," he said. The watermark is the watermark of Abraham Lincoln who is on the five dollar bill that should be Benjamin Franklin."

A 6th business at Third and South was hit with counterfeit $20 bills. Business owners tell FOX 29 they used word of mouth to spread a warning about the bogus bills. Several owners said there may be two men trying to peddle the phoney bills.