What to do if you receive a counterfeit:

[dbblsanta]

The two important rules are:

1) DO NOT RETURN IT TO THE CUSTOMER
2) CALL YOUR LOCAL SECRET SERVICE BRANCH

http://www.secretservice.gov/money_receive.shtml

Tonight we got a suspect counterfeit: a series 1977 $100 bill. The marker showed black, but as there is no security thread on any $100 bill pre-1990 or watermark pre-1996 there is nothing that can be checked except to see if 1) the paper feels authentic and 2) if there are small red and blue fibers embedded in the paper (both of which are easy to duplicate with today's technology.)

The customer made so much of a scene though that the manager caved in and gave the bill back to the customer. If the bill actually was counterfeit, this would be incredibly illegal.

[Byronthebanker]

Suspect bills go to the Secret Service. If that bill proves counterfeit and your manager passed it to the customer, then said manager is guilty of passing counterfeit currency.

What To Do If You Find One…

1. Do not return it to the passer. Keep it and write your name and the date on it so you can identify it later.
2. Notify the nearest Secret Service office or police.
3. Record who gave it to you along with where and when you got it. If you can, write down a description of the person who passed it, as well as information such as the license number of any vehicle used.

What Happens Next?
The counterfeit will be confiscated by the Treasury Department to remove it from circulation, and as evidence in the event of prosecution of both the counterfeiters and the counterfeit passers. This means that the discoverer loses the face value of the counterfeit turned in. Anyone who is convicted of passing counterfeit currency can receive up to 5 years imprisonment and/or a fine up to $10,000. Thus it is wiser to turn in a counterfeit bill, rather than try to pass it on to someone else.

[XCashier]

This webpage has a whole lot of stuff to check for on US notes: http://www.secretservice.gov/know_your_money.shtml

Those counterfeit pens are nearly useless. All they show is if there's starch in the note or not; a legit note that's been through the laundry can show up as fake, and a fake note printed on the correct paper can show as real.

Drag your fingernail down the portrait; you should be able to feel the ridges of the lines, even on older notes.

And, in my experience, usually the bigger the tantrum the customer throws, the more he/she has to hide.

[dbblsanta]

I agree: the pens are pretty much useless. I know a lot about money because I'm an avid coin collector. There have been a couple of occasions where I've stepped in when the pen detected a "counterfeit" but in reality the bills had all the security features. This is the first time though that this happened on a pre-1990 bill.

The fingernail trick seems like a good idea. I rubbed the bill with my finger and it felt authentic (the U.S. uses an intaglio printing process which is very high pressure, giving the ink its distinctive feel.)

Still, it's weird that a bill that old would 1) still be in circulation and 2) the woman said a teller gave it to her at a bank. Tellers should not be giving out bills that old.

[Lordy]

I'd be really angry if I gave someone $100, and they thought it was fake, and then I couldn't get it back.

That's like losing $100 for nothing, especially if he had no idea of its legitimacy.

If it actually was a counterfeit, then if he didn't put up such a show, it's pretty obvious he knows its a counterfeit, so either way, it's hard to say if he would ever walk away, or if anyone would in such a case.

I had a case where my friend purchased something from best buy and wished to return it.

Well, he walked in and the guy at the front was busy flirting with a girl or so, and he didn't see my friend carry the item in. They refused to refund my friend, and also refused to let him go with the item (which is a lose-lose for my friend, win-win for the company), so you can see why its beneficial to contest it (which my friend did)

Eventually they checked the cameras, after trying to deny us for ~15 minutes.

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

So, you're saying that if I received a counterfit bill and I didn't know that it was, that if I were to try to pass it to someone else (say to put gas in my car) *I* would fined and/or jailed?

Considering the bit I read recently about the super counterfit bills, this scares the living shit out of me. I don't have a debit card since my bank will not issue me one and I have to get cash from my bank so I can refill my prepaid card.

[Hobbs]

According to Title 18, 473, your manager is in some tough dookie.

Whoever buys, sells, exchanges, transfers, receives, or delivers any false, forged, counterfeited, or altered obligation or other security of the United States, with the intent that the same be passed, published, or used as true and genuine, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.

Since you didn't knowingly possess it as counterfeit w/ the intent it be used, you're not in trouble, Mongo.

[Anakah]

At my casino we come across a LOT of fake bills. Yes the pen is becoming worthless because people are washing fifties and putting in fives. Things like that. The money is taken away from the customer, they write a statement but I don't know if they get replacement money or not... I would think so, its not like everybody knows what to look for and its hard to check every bill. And you can't just automatically assume they're guilty. I don't know how they go about it.

A big indicator is if the slot machines won't take them. Whenever a customer says the bill wouldn't go in, we always double check the bill. The easiest ones would be the older hundreds to fake because like you said its hard to check since half of the old ones don't have a strip nor the face in the background. I hate old hundreds.

[Andara Bledin]

Still, it's weird that a bill that old would 1) still be in circulation and 2) the woman said a teller gave it to her at a bank. Tellers should not be giving out bills that old.

It's possible that the teller had received it earlier that day, and that's why that was what was given out.

I still don't get why anyone would want $100 bills except for very large purchases where credit or debit were not an option, and those situations are very few and far between.

So, you're saying that if I received a counterfit bill and I didn't know that it was, that if I were to try to pass it to someone else (say to put gas in my car) *I* would fined and/or jailed?

It doesn't quite work that way.

If you get a bill and spend it in the normal course of activities, you're fine.

However, if you have any suspicions that the bill you have is fake, and you then pass it on, that's when you can get in trouble.

^-.-^

[Red_Dazes]

I had a lady make a huge purchase with 3 hundred dollar bills. I checked each one really close, they were the newer ones so they were very crisp and almost didn't feel real. She got very huffy with me when I checked each one.
"JESUS CHRIST! It's not like their FAKE! Hurry up!"

"Sorry ma'am, but I am required to check any bill Over $20. I could lose my job if I don't."

They were fine, but damn she threw a fit.

[Mister]

Thanks for the article.

It got me wondering about out local laws. It seems Dutch law states a company has to return the counterfit to the customer and to not exept it (because it is not money, it's just fancy paper) and (not law) advise the customer to take it either to the police or the national bank.

[flutes_and_fabric]

I've never received a counterfeit, but for all 50s and 100s I do test them with the pen. It's good to know what to do if you ever do run across one.