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Pretending To Be Rich In Aspen: Fake $100s Make Way Around Town

ASPEN, Colo. (CBS4) - Police in one of Colorado's most luxurious towns are trying to find out who's been passing off fake $100 bills, but investigators are short on leads.

Police were notified late last week about a number of fake $100 bills, but that money had been pooled at the bank, so investigators aren't sure where they came from.

"Bankers are professionals, they see a lot of money move through their hands, they're collecting from businesses around town every day," Blair Weyer with the Aspen Police Department said.

The fake money was discovered inside the Alpine Bank on Friday.

"Those bills have been deemed counterfeit by the Secret Service," Weyer said.

At least seven bills made to look like $100 were discovered while money was being sorted at the bank.

"It's fairly difficult because it's aggregate money that came into the bank; we don't know exactly which stores they came from," Weyer said.

Alpine Bank
(credit: CBS)

Aspen police began urging stores to use pens to discover counterfeit money.

"We did do a lot of outreach last week to banks and to local businesses just to let them know they really need to be diligent."

But in the midst of one of the strongest ski seasons on record, exactly who has been handing out the money could be difficult to find.

"We do have a very transient population, especially with the ski season. Until we have more information leading us one way or another, it's hard to say."

In recent history there have been people caught with counterfeit cash. On Wednesday a Front Range man will be in court in Summit County for using fake money at the Outlets in Silverthorne. Law enforcement officials say the difference is that he was caught because the stores recognized immediately.

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