They're almost as good as cash. But when they're counterfeit, travelers checks are just as worthless as counterfeit cash.

Seven Cape Girardeau businesses discovered that when they accepted travelers checks supposedly issued by Master Card and supported by a bank in New York. A suspect described as a black man about 6 feet tall using the names Robert Jordan and Kent Smith passed a counterfeit $100 travelers check at the Cracker Barrel, 3261 William Street, and Payless Shoe store, 3437 William Street; and at Electronic Boutique, Vitamin World store, Champs Sports, Mary's Gems and Victoria's Secret, all at Westfield Shoppingtown West Park.

According to Jason Selzer of the Cape Girardeau Police Department, police believe one suspect passed all the checks and was using the checks to buy merchandise and to get money back from his purchases.

Store employees were unaware that the checks were phony until their banks began returning them. The New York bank named on the checks confirmed that the checks were forged. By the time they were returned to the local banks, several days had passed and the employees had trouble remembering the person who gave them the check.

"It's frustrating," Selzer said. "There's not much to go on."

The loss could have been avoided, he said, if the store employees had followed the instructions written on the check: to hold it up to the light and look for an identifying bar that runs through the face of the check. They should also have asked for a driver's license to verify identification. One store did ask for an ID, Selzer said, but the suspect produced an ID card from Indiana, not a driver's license. That too was probably fake, Selzer said.

Only two serial numbers

Examination of the returned checks showed only two separate serial numbers leading police to believe that the suspect had two travelers checks which he copied on a color printer.

"You're supposed to be able to trust travelers checks," said Cheryl Barnett, teller coordinator for US Bank in Cape Girardeau. Barnett also said that instructions are printed on the face of the check advising those who accept them to hold them up to the light and look for the identifying bar running through the check. There are also identifying watermarks on the paper that a printer would not be able to copy, she said.

Each of the merchants who accepted the $100 travelers check from the suspect has lost $100. A counterfeit check is like counterfeit currency, Selzer said. There is no replacing it with the real value.

But the suspect has taken two blank $100 travelers checks and turned them into $700 worth of merchandise and cash.

Selzer said police are looking at security videos to see if they can identify the suspect. He said the man may have been passing through and has since left the area.

lredeffer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160