Counterfeits...

[Plaidman]

Everyone has a story. Here's mine from last night.

2:30 in the morning. Couple come in, get about 25 dollars worth of junk, and hand me a 50. Its a rareity that I can break that, but they did get .50 percent of the bill, so its all good.

But the bill looks really faded, and yellow. I check it with the pen, but it comes out good. But it just looks really really strange. I scratch the clothes, sure enough it's rough like a real bill. The woman is looking away claiming that it was in the wash, that's why it's faded.

I hold it up to the light. A hah! It has Lincoln in the corner. (For those not from America, all bills have the front President, and the same president to the right of it, inside the bill so you have to look it through the light to see, also, a 50 dollar bill would have Ulysses S Grant on it. Also, the security strip, (To the left of the face) said 5 dollars.

Now, assuming some clerk just told you the bill was fake, and you had to call police/give it to them, would you stay? Or would you do what this couple do?

Shrug, and say "Oh well... can we play with other bills?"

They paid 25 dollars, that were real. (Though they both got very pissed off that I check those bills).

Funny that they care for a 20 and a five, but don't bat a eye that a 50 dollar bill was fake.

Got the license plate, gave to the police, but they can't do a damn thing about it.

[Rubystars]

I keep trying to tell the other cashiers not to rely on that pen. I tell them to look at the corner on the 50s and 100s. They won't listen to me.

[Imogene]

What does it mean to 'scratch the clothes'?

[SuperB]

Throw those pens away, they are useless! I've caught a fake $50 and $100 by spotting Lincoln in the corner. And the new fake $20 had no watermark at all. What they are doing now is bleaching a small bill to print a larger on legit paper. The hardest to spot are the old bills now.

Any normal person would be shocked to learn they had a fake bill. For her to say, "oh well", I'd bet the farm she knew damn well what she had. Whether she made it herself or got stuck with it and decided to pawn it off on someone else, she knew.
I've had people act surprised that I would "suspect" them (when I check a bill) and I tell them they likely wouldn't even know they had one.

[ReverendBSB]

I got a counterfeit bill in a drive through once. It was a ten, and was really bad. Looked wrong, felt wrong, and the pen revealed it was fake. I took it too the manager in the back and asked what to do. She was getting so she told me not to call the cops, just give it back and get rid off them. I went back to the window and told them guys it was fake. They gave me some real bills to pay for the food, and when I tried to give them the bill back they told me to keep it.

[Jester]

For those not from America, all bills have the front President, and the same president to the right of it, inside the bill so you have to look it through the light to see, also, a 50 dollar bill would have Ulysses S Grant on it.

Not ALL bills. All NEW bills. Older bills that are still in circulation will not have these security devices. Sorry, the Meticulous Anal Jester had to have his say here.

That being said, I will be honest....until I read this (and looked in my wallet) I had NO FREAKIN' CLUE about the other image of the President on the bill.

As I learned lo those many years ago, you learn something new every day.

[Purple Monkey Dishwasher]

I've caught probably a dozen fakes using the watermark and reflective ink. On the other hand, I had a twenty once that refused to test good with a pen, that I am sure was good - it had the correct watermark, correct ink, and all the other appropriate security devices. But the bill showed black with the counterfeit pen. It even had red and blue fibers. The pens worked on other bills. If it was fake, I'm terrified, because it was PERFECT in every other way. It even had the right money "feel."

Last week, I caught a fake 20, and the dude (who was nice, and looked closely and agreed that it was fake), said "Shit! My MOM gave me that!!!"

Joe

[Banrion]

On the other hand, I had a twenty once that refused to test good with a pen, that I am sure was good - it had the correct watermark, correct ink, and all the other appropriate security devices. But the bill showed black with the counterfeit pen. It even had red and blue fibers. The pens worked on other bills. If it was fake, I'm terrified, because it was PERFECT in every other way. It even had the right money "feel."

Did it look like a crisp new $20? I only ask, because the reason those pens work is a very simple starch/iodine reaction. The gov't uses starch free paper to print the money. So no starch = just a little tinge of yellow from the iodine. With starch, it turns that purple/black color. Some people like their money to be perfect. That means no wrinkles or bends. So what do they do? They iron it! It wouldn't be a far strech to think that some of these people would also starch their money for that extra crispyness.

[wagegoth]

Someone brought this up before on a similar post: creating and/or knowingly passing counterfeit currency is a federal felony, and should be reported to the feds. Local police aren't going to care enough to do anything about it.

[UncleImpy]

According to the Treasury department at the time I looked it up (got a counterfeit $50 while working at a gas station), you're supposed to keep it, seal it in an envelope and write all of the circumstances of how you got it on the envelope along with your contact information, then call the FBI and have them pick it up.

Course, that was before 9/11 and DHS, so YMMV.

[Dave1982]

For those of you who are interested, this type of counterfeit (bleaching a low value bill and printing a higher value on it) is called a "raised note."

Interestingly, I have yet to encounter any counterfeit money, despite having worked as a cashier for years.

And no, I don't rely on the pen. I still use it, but I always check for other indicators as well (watermark, security thread, etc).

[JLG]

We get fake $100 bills every couple of months. One time this girl had a $100 bill that had happy birthday written on it with a black marker. She said that her grandma sent it to her and she would not send her a fake bill. The problem I get more is with fake travelers checks. Last month this lady comes up with some items that totaled a little over $100. She hands the cashier two $100 travelers checks. The cashier calls me over and I knew they were fake and I pick up the phone to call the manager and the lady freaks out. I told her it was store policy to get an approval on all travelers checks. I actually can approve them but when they are a fake I call for a manager for back up. The lady said she had no time for all this and we were doing way to much She said she will not be shopping here ever again and took her travelers checks and left. When somebody uses a travelers check they get cash back if there is change. And if they return the items they purchased they get cash back so I have been seen a lot of fake traveler checks lately.

[Becks]

And no, I don't rely on the pen. I still use it, but I always check for other indicators as well (watermark, security thread, etc).

Same here when I was a cashier.

[Hon'ya-chan]

For those of you who are interested, this type of counterfeit (bleaching a low value bill and printing a higher value on it) is called a "raised note."

Not according to the Secret Service: http://www.treas.gov/usss/money_raised_notes.shtml

And surprising PBS has better info than the SS: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/moolah/anatomy.html

[Dave1982]

Not according to the Secret Service: http://www.treas.gov/usss/money_raised_notes.shtml

And surprising PBS has better info than the SS: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/moolah/anatomy.html

Yes, it IS a raised note. They only show an example there of someone having cut the corners from a 10 and put them on a 1. That's one way of doing it; bleaching/reprinting is another (and that is according to PBS as well, I have a show on tape somewhere discussing this very ideam, and they specificlly identify a bleached/reprinted note as a rasied note)

Right there in on the Secret Service page: ONE common method.

One, not the only one.