CONNOQUENESSING TWP — The U.S. Secret Service was notified this week after a Shriners group at the Butler Farm Show received four counterfeit $10 bills.

Dick Musko, one of the members of the Butler Caravan Shriner Club selling raffle tickets, said the group received one fake bill Monday and three Tuesday. They have since started using markers to test the legitimacy of money they accept.

They did not realize the bills were fake until they took them to Farmer’s National Bank on Route 8 in Butler Township and the bills were caught by a money counting machine.

The group notified Butler Township police and farm show security while the bank manager said the bank would notify the Secret Service, which handles counterfeiting investigations, Musko said.

Musko said he also talked to a kettle corn vendor at the farm show who reportedly received several fake 10s.

The Shriners club is selling raffle tickets for a chance to win an all-terrain vehicle, a motorcycle and several cash prizes.

“In 15 years of doing this, we’ve never had any counterfeit bills. We go through probably 50 to 60 thousand dollars a year in cash,” Musko said.

“It’s a shame somebody would rip us off. This is a charity.”