A person walks into a fastfood resaturant, orders a meal and hands the clerk a $20 bill.

The clerk uses a pen to stripe the bill and calls for the manager, who — in turn — calls the police.

The bill is counterfeit.

It could happen to anyone, according to Capt. Greg Graff, of the Douglasville Police Department. With more and more counterfeit dollars in circulation here, the likelihood of getting one might be greater than a person would expect.

“The business calls us, you say you got it from (another store), for example, we take (the fake money), and file a report,” Graff said.

Chances are, the person would pay with another form of legal tender and leave without being arrested, unless there are other extenuating circumstances like the person having committed another crime,

It sounds simple enough, but consider a case that was heard in Magistrate Court Monday.

A young man claimed to have gone to the flea market on Bankhead Highway to buy a gift for his father. While there, he asked a vendor for change for a $100 bill. Supposedly, he was given five $20s, all of which turned out to be fake.

Graff said that it was unlikely that one person would end up with all five bills being fake, calling it “very rare.” But while the businesses and banks here do a good job of screening and picking out the counterfeit ones, it is still possible for a few to get circulated.

The police department scans the counterfeit bills it receives and can usually isolate them according to the serial number, Graff said. But new ways of counterfeiting, such as bleaching out $5 bills and changing them into $100 bills using a laser printer, are not so easily detected.

While banks and businesses know what to look for, The United States Department of the Treasury (www.ustreas.gov) offers features by which one can determine if the currency is legitimate and authentic.

• color-shifting ink: The new series bill, with the exception of the 1$ note, has color-shifting ink. If a person tilts the bill back and forth, he should be able to observe the number in the lower right hand corner shift from green to black and back.

• watermark: By holding the bill up to a light, one should be able to see the watermark in the unprinted space to the right of the portrait. It can be seen from both sides of the bill since it is not printed on the bill but is embedded in the paper.

• security thread: this can also be detected by holding the bill up to the light. You will see a thin imbedded strip running from top to bottom on the face of the bill. In the $10 and $50, the security strip is located to the right of the portrait; in the $5, $20 and $100, it is just to the left of the portrait.

• ultraviolet glow: If the bill is held up to an ultraviolet light, the $5 bill glows blue, the $10 bill glows orange, the $20 bill glows yellow, and the $100 bill glows red if they are authentic.

• microprinting: Each bill has minute microprinting on the security threads. For example, the $5 bill has “USA FIVE” written on the thread; the $10 bill, “USA TEN”; the $20 bill, “USA TWENTY”; the $50 bill, “USA 50”; and the $100 bill, “USA 100” on the security thread. Microprinting can also be found around the portrait.

• fine line printing patterns: Very fine lines have been added behind the portrait and on the reverse scene to make it harder to reproduce bills.

• comparison: Compare the feel and texture of the paper with other bills that you know are authentic.

The Treasury Department said there is no financial reimbursement for the return of counterfeit money, but that people should have pride in doing “the right thing” to help combat counterfeiting.