SANDPOINT — The Sandpoint Police Department is asking area businesses to keep an eye out for counterfeit currency after a number of fake bills turned up at local stores.

The department issued an alert to downtown business owners after counterfeit $5 and $10 bills were reported at several local stores.

The bills are the “new” editions and appear to have been scanned with a laser printer and then copied onto parchment paper, according to Sandpoint Police Chief Mark Lockwood.

Lockwood said the $10 bill is a poor reproduction and would be fairly easy to spot, but said the $5 bill could be more likely to slip past a busy worker.

“If you were handed it in a group of bills and you counted them out quick, it might get by you,” he said.

 “But if they just handed you the bill, you would know there is something wrong with it.

“The fibers don’t look very good.”

So far, bills have been found in Ponderay and at several bars in Sandpoint, Lockwood said.

The origin of the money is unknown, but SPD detectives are working with agents from the U.S. Secret Service, which is charged with nabbing counterfeiters, to narrow the search.

“I don’t know if they came from someone who produced them locally or they’re just muling them through. I can’t answer that question, but we are following up on some leads,” Lockwood said.

There are several ways to spot counterfeit currency, including dark or mottled images in the bill’s portrait or treasury seal, uneven coloring and spacing of serial numbers and incorrect paper type, according to the Secret Service Web site.

Business owners who suspect they have received a fake bill should immediately contact SPD at 265-1482.