Seaside police sent out an alert about fake $100 bills.

Counterfeit bills have been appearing at several Clatsop County banks over the past few weeks, sparking concerns for consumers and businesses.

Kevin Hyder, the branch manager at First Interstate Bank in Seaside, reported that his bank and the Umpqua Bank branches in Seaside and Warrenton had been dealing with an influx of fake $100 bills circulating through their systems. Hyder said his bank and the Umpqua Bank in Seaside had seen 18 in the past week.

“This is the most I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been managing banks here in town for three years now,” he said.

Hyder brought the issue to the Seaside Police Department, which circulated an alert warning businesses of the fake bills.

Police asked that people with any information about the fraudulent currency to contact local law enforcement and try to retain security footage.

Jamie Bue, a banker at the Umpqua Bank in Seaside, said gas stations, bars and restaurants in Seaside had also been reporting counterfeit bills.

“It’s got to be someone in town that’s doing it, I figure,” Bue said. “I don’t know, there’s just too many of them going around.

“People should know to check their hundreds. Some of the businesses that we’ve received them from are telling their employees or customers to take it over to the lottery machine and run it through the lottery machine and bring them a cash ticket, because the lottery machines won’t take them if they’re counterfeit.”

The counterfeit bills all follow a trend. Each is a lightly colored last generation $100 bill with a serial number beginning with BB, a backplate number of 82 and so far every bill has been dated 2006A.

The bills also pass the counterfeit pen test. The giveaway, Hyder said, is if the portrait watermark and security strip are visible without the bill needing to be held up to the light. The details are usually inside the bill, but he said the counterfeits have them printed on the back.

“That could change,” he said. “I’m guessing if they’re printing them, they can probably make changes there. But that lightly printed strip and portrait on the back is going to save people.”

On Jan. 22, Hyder alerted the Seaside Police Department and the Seaside Chamber of Commerce that the bills had been updated. Two more counterfeit bills had appeared at their bank but were dated 1999. Additionally, the serial numbers had changed on each bill, and on both the front and backplate numbers were C7 and B2.

Hyder also said that the watermark and security strip were no longer only printed on the back. One bill had the security strip and watermark printed on the front and back, and the other had the watermark on the front and the security strip on the back.