AMERICUS — The two $100-bills that Len Hicks had on his desk Thursday morning looked authentic to the untrained eye. But after close examination, Hicks, an employee of Sumter Bank & Trust, easily pointed out many flaws.

Hicks said one of the bills came from another local bank, and the other from a local merchant. He said the bills were “believable” because they are printed on real U.S. currency paper. Here’s how he said they were concocted: The counterfeiter took a $5-bill and washed all the ink off. Next, he or she designed a reliable looking bill on a computer and printed the $100 information onto the scrubbed $5 bill, passing it off as the real thing, at least until someone became suspicious.

Yet Hicks pointed out several discrepancies:

• The denomination number, 100, in the bottom, right-hand corner of the bill, is not printed in shifting ink, which allows for a change in color and shading when manipulated.

• The bill was not made using raised printing. The way Hicks demonstrated this was to rub an index fingernail over the coat collar of Benjamin Franklin’s image on the bill. In the real McCoy, tiny ridges can be felt. In the bogus bill, the paper is smooth.

• Another tell-tale sign, noticed by a specialist like Hicks, is the metallic strip or security thread on the bill. Each denomination has this thread in the same place on every bill. On the bogus bill, the bill had been folded to confuse the eye.

• Each genuine bill has a watermark portrait on the side opposite the image of Franklin or whoever is depicted on the bill. On this bogus bill, when held up to the light, the image of Abraham Lincoln can clearly be seen opposite Ben Franklin’s image.

• Real U.S. currency is printed on paper containing red and blue fibers.

Hicks explained that when a merchant is stuck with a bogus bill, he loses twice. For example: someone pays for $50 in merchandise with a fake $100 bill. The merchant not only gives change for the fake 100, but is also left with the bogus, thereby worthless, bill and is still out the merchandise.

Hicks, vice president and special assets officer for SB&T;, said most counterfeit bills are passed at convenience stores, liquor stores, smaller restaurants, yard sales, dances and other such functions and where large crowds are paying quickly, such as sporting events.

Hicks’ best advice for consumers to guard against becoming a recipient of counterfeit bills, is to be vigilant. If you are suspicious of a bill you have received, contact your bank or law enforcement agency. He also warned against cashing “scam checks,” which he says arrive in the mailboxes of unsuspecting people almost daily. If unsure, take the check to your local bank. “There’s no such thing as a free lunch,” he said. “Most scams play off emotions (greed) and distractions (current events, the slow economy, natural disasters such the earthquake in Haiti).”