LAKE CITY, Fla. -- Counterfeit currency continues to circulate in the community, as more businesses have reported incidents of counterfeit bills to the Lake City Police Department.

The first of the most recent incidents happened on Thursday morning at the First Federal Administrative Offices. Five counterfeit $20 bills from the Lake City and Live Oak branches were detected by counting machines, according to a release from the LCPD. These bills were turned over to the U.S. Department of Treasury.

Early Thursday afternoon, the Winn-Dixie at 800 S. Marion Street found that it had three counterfeit $20 bills in its cash tills. Sergeant Investigator Paul Kash took these bills as part of the ongoing investigation.

Around 2:23 p.m., Walmart at 2767 W. U.S. 90 reported that they had 10 $50 counterfeit bills in its possession. The transaction in which these bills were obtained took place on Sunday, July 22 at around 6 p.m.

The suspect in this transaction purchased a $500 Walmart gift card and also bought a case of Ensure with a $20 bill. He is described by the LCPD release as a black male who is 5-foot-9 or 5-foot-10 with a muscular build, shaved head and goatee.

After the transaction, the suspect was seen getting into a white four-door Nissan, which was circling the parking lot and being driven by an unknown subject. The suspect appeared to be nervous during the transaction and kept looking over his shoulder when leaving the store, according to the release.

More counterfeit bills were reported by the Domino's Pizza at 2372 W. U.S. 90 on Thursday evening. On Wednesday, July 25 and Thursday, July 26, two separate deliveries were made to the Cedar Park Apartments. On that Wednesday, a delivery was paid for with two $20 counterfeit bills and on Thursday, an order was paid for with a counterfeit $50.

All business owners are urged to take a few basic steps in safeguarding against being a victim by:

1) Feeling the bill for texture - currency is a mixture of paper and fabric
2) Holding the bill up to the light and look for the watermarks/holograms
3) Look for and at the security strips - should read "USA FIVE", "USA TEN", etc., and match what's printed on the front.
4) Buy and use a counterfeit ID marker (amber in color = safe / dark brown-black = suspect)

First Coast News