James City County Police are warning citizens to be on the lookout for counterfeit bills, circulating around the county.
Over the last few months, James City County Police have received several reports of movie prop currency being passed as real cash at locations in the county, according to a James City County news release.
“Police urge you to take a few extra minutes to closely look at bills during cash transactions,” the release said.
The movie prop currency is easily obtained from online sources, police said, and appears very realistic.
Many bills are marked “for motion picture use only,” but others are difficult to tell from real money without reading the “fine print,” the release said.
The department has not any cases with the Russian Cyrillic printed on the bills, said police spokeswoman Stephanie Williams.
The photos used in the police release are just some examples of how realistic the bills are and some tips on what to look for, she added.
“We’ve received at least seven reports of these types of bills being passed in the last year but have reason to believe that there have been more,” Williams said in an email.
Anyone who sees these bills in James City County, or those with information about the circulation of these bills, should contact James City County Police at 757-253-1800.
Those with information may also contact the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP. Callers to the Crime Line may remain anonymous, do not have to testify in court and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000 if the information leads to an arrest.
CORRECTION: The image used in an earlier version of this story may have implied that bills with the Russian Cyrillic language written on it had been circulating around the county.
