State warns of funny money

A risk advisory last week from the Office of the State Auditor urges the public to keep an eye out for funny money, though local business representatives have so far reported no such sightings.

“The OSA has received notice of counterfeit money targeting the communities of southern New Mexico, particularly in the City of Alamogordo,” said the advisory. “Individuals, business owners, and agencies are strongly encouraged to take special attention in processing cash transactions.”

Counterfeit bills reported so far were largely identified in denominations of $5, $10 and $20, printed on low-quality paper and presented at a variety of local businesses. OSA also advised looking out for bills “printed with duplicate serial numbers” or that “appear to have Chinese lettering,” while higher-quality imitations can be in denominations of $50 and $100 and “have a yellowish hue to the paper.”

Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Karl Terry said he hadn’t heard of the bogus bills making their way to Portales area, but shared the advisory in an abundance of caution. A representative of Clovis/Curry County’s chamber said as much Monday, as well.

OSA recommends reporting any suspected counterfeits to local police. Clovis and Portales police representatives did not respond to questions Monday regarding any counterfeit bill sightings.