Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The Territorial Bank of American Samoa has issued an alert to notify the public that several counterfeit bills have turned up on island in the past two weeks.

A press release from the office of bank president & CEO David A. Buehler, says four counterfeit $100 bills had been received within the past two weeks. Buehler said such incidents “have been exceedingly rare. In light of this situation, we urge individuals and businesses to exercise caution and thoroughly inspect their currency upon receipt and before departing from the source of the transaction.”

The bank offers the information that many businesses protect themselves with a counterfeit banknote detection pen is a pen that is used to apply an iodine-based ink to banknotes in an attempt to determine their authenticity. The ink reacts with starch in wood-based paper to create a black or blue mark but the paper in a real bill contains no starch, so the pen mark remains unchanged.

Please refer to the US Treasury website which displays the unique safety features:

Click to go to uscurrency Quick Reference Guide