Detectives arrested a 45-year-old Freeland woman on suspicion of securities fraud after she tried to pass a counterfeit $100 bill at a Clinton business Jan. 17, according to the Island County Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators have been on the lookout for bogus moolah after receiving four separate complaints this month from merchants who received fake $100 bills — two in Freeland and two in Clinton. The Oak Harbor Police Department is investigating one additional counterfeit 100-spot.

In the most recent incident, an attentive merchant at a Clinton business became suspicious and called police after the woman tried to pass the $100 bill. Sgt. Jeff Myers arrived before the suspect was able to leave.

Detectives consider the bills to be high-quality counterfeits made with actual U.S. currency paper.

The watermarks on the bills show the face of Abraham Lincoln, who appears on the $5 bill. Detectives surmised that $5 bills had been washed to remove ink, then printed as $100 bills with Benjamin Franklin’s face.

In one of the cases, a bank employee became suspicious about the overall feel of the bill because it was limp, as if it had gone through a clothes washer.

Counterfeiting $100 bills isn’t very smart, detectives say, because they are subject to greater scrutiny than smaller denominations, like $20 bills.

Detectives continue to work with the businesses to identify other possible suspects.

The suspect in the Clinton case was booked into Island County Jail Friday.

You can reach News-Times reporter Jessie Stensland at jstensland@whidbeynewstimes.com or call 675-6611.