Posted: 12/7/2008 4:34:57 AM EDT
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I have a couple of other longer posts going on but I wanted to share this little tip with you because it’s one that can save you a lot of money, for real.
I’m not so sure how used you are to detecting counterfeit money. In Spain, I’ve been handed funny money IN A BANK, without the employee realizing it unitl I told her, so I suppose that at least there, people aren’t used to it. Point is -> economical crisis -> people need money-> some genius realize they can “make” money. So sooner or later you start seeing a lot of counterfeited money. Some is better made than other, but this will probably become a problem in due time. After our 2001 crisis, it happen after a few months, about a year. It already happened before teh crisis, always had some funny money around, but after the crisis you noticed an increased number of it. There was a lot of fake money around, even fake coins. (someone made a killer there, since it was very hard to tell the fake coins from the cheapo post crisis coinage) Inexpensive gadget that can save thousands ( literally!) 
http://forums.the-gadgeteer.com/photon-micro-lights-uv-purple-review.html I started carrying one of these ultraviolet LED lights. Not this particular brand, but one similar in terms of function. Just lighting it over the bill would quickly tell you if the money was either fake, real, or maybe a good copy. I’m saying this because other things must be checked too before you can tell it’s not fake, but the light helps a lot. I must say, I don’t carry one of these any more, and use the space for a real LED flashlight. Why? Because after years of this, I humbly must admit that I got good at telling funny money from the real one. But don’t get too cocky, don’t think you can tell the difference too just because you think you'll be able to. Wait until you’ve detected about 50 counterfeit bills give or take( in actual exchanges and in payments at the cash register) before you can claim that.:) Better to be humble than loosing 100 bucks. Now, things to look for, besides the light: What to Look For: 1) Overall feel, the paper, the graphic quality. I’ve found fake money that had ugly quality paper. Not quality fake money, but in a rush you might not notice. Even with a home printer they can do this low quality counterfeit, so take a breath when you have money in your hand, and look at it well. Do not rush. I remember once, I found a bill that was wrong since I first had it in my hand? Low quality and obviously fake but something else, What was it?.. After comparing it with a real one it was clear that it was 1/10 smaller. :) 2) The ink used. A real USD bill will leave a mark when rubbed against white paper ( the darker numbers) 3) The water mark. Don’t just make sure it’s there, make sure it has all the detail. I once found a fake dollar that had the watermark portrait, but with much less detail. It was hand make. Good detail, but not enough. Fake. Some look like drawn by a 5 years old, others a real work of art, making the bill probably more valuable than the real deal. :) 4) The vertical strip. Only noticeable when looking through the bill with a light in the back. This should not only be there, but have numbers in it. I once found one that was a simple black strip inside the paper. Fake. 5) Look at the shiny ink marks, the one that sparkles a bit, it should be clearly defined, and not messed up a bit. 6) The numbers, the ones that change color when you look at it at a different angle, it should clearly change color. 7) Last the paper. Touch it, look at a lot of real paper bills trough light. The paper money is printed on is special, has a number of marks, a texture, that is different from ordinary paper. These are basically the things I look for in money. I’m sure I’m forgetting some and there are others too, but check these, with the light to help, and you’ll avoid most counterfeit money out there. Seems like a long list now that I look at it, but once you get used to it you check all these things in seconds. http://ferfal.blogspot.com/ FerFAL |
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Good post.
I am continuously amazed at how many people - who should know better - will ignore the built-in security features on currently and instead use some absurd iodine "magic pen" whcih assumes starch = counterfeit, no starch = real. (heck, see post #2!) You should also strive to learn what to look for on foreign currency in any country where you will be traveling. |
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Quoted:
Good post. I work for the government and they gave us those counterfeit detecting pens to use . It found a fake $100 dollar bill one day in a stack that I was checking. 
Which agency spent our tax money on that? Did they train you how to use the actual security features? |
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Please guys, don’t attack someone for doing his job. I doubt he calls the shots there.
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You should also strive to learn what to look for on foreign currency in any country where you will be traveling. Yes. Most of these things, I check on local Peso, USD and Euro. Just get familiar with each currency and know what to look for. :) Some have symbols that should look symmetric when hold against a light. So as to know it’s perfectly aligned one side with the other. FerFAL |
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LOL,nope,no training. Just "Here,use these on any large bills you come across." The agency will stay anonymous.
Quoted:
Good post. I work for the government and they gave us those counterfeit detecting pens to use . It found a fake $100 dollar bill one day in a stack that I was checking. 
Which agency spent our tax money on that? Did they train you how to use the actual security features? |
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When I was in high school and right when the new green 20 bills came out there was a kid that brought $200 in counterfeit 20's. They were a VERY GOOD counterfiet and from what I was told you couldn't even tell the difference. He was waving them around and being all flashy which was the reason the 7-11 clerk called 911. Needless to say, high ranking officials in black cars picked him up from school that day and I never saw him again. <–– true story.
For our business class we had a banker come in and show us counterfiet money. Most of the time people cut off the numbers on larger bills and glued them to the corners of smaller bills. This looked really ghey, but I suppose if your working register on a fast day it might slip by. |
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I'm curious as to it's application to the debit card shown? What are the security measures that show up under that?
As to fake bills when I worked as a cashier we would hold larger bills up to a light and look for the security strip. Good tips on other things to look for, thanks! |
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I'm curious as to it's application to the debit card shown? What are the security measures that show up under that? As to fake bills when I worked as a cashier we would hold larger bills up to a light and look for the security strip. Good tips on other things to look for, thanks! Many companies use UV ink to put security features on their debit cards. I have an extensive collection of currency and most countries use UV ink for security on their bills. I'll try taking some picts tonight. Av. |
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LOL,nope,no training. Just "Here,use these on any large bills you come across." The agency will stay anonymous.
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Good post. I work for the government and they gave us those counterfeit detecting pens to use . It found a fake $100 dollar bill one day in a stack that I was checking.
Which agency spent our tax money on that? Did they train you how to use the actual security features? I am convinced those pens were "invented" by counterfeiters. People will readily pass a fake 50 because of the magic pen, while ignoring the rather easily seen large numeral 5 in the security strip. I've seen bank tellers use them, as well as merchants accepting US dollars world wide. Scary, really. All they due is detect low wuality paper - which your hands can detect on their own most of the time. Serious counterfeiters use the same type of paper as the mint. Anyway, the Treasure Dept goes out of its way to educate people on true security features, and maintains an excellent web site. Here is their page on the new 5 dollar bills: http://www.moneyfactory.gov/newmoney/main.cfm/currency/new5 ... and their general page on counterfeit detection: http://www.treasury.gov/offices/domestic-finance/acd/if-you-suspect.shtml UV light - yes, magic pen - ehh, no. |
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FWIW, here is the page on the $100 note:
http://www.moneyfactory.gov/section.cfm/4/32/322 |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Good post. I work for the government and they gave us those counterfeit detecting pens to use . It found a fake $100 dollar bill one day in a stack that I was checking.
Which agency spent our tax money on that? Did they train you how to use the actual security features? I liked the movie especially the buried S.O.Liberty My favorite...The city is made of bricks. The strong make many, the starving make few, the dead make none! |
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Huh ?Quoted:
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Good post. I work for the government and they gave us those counterfeit detecting pens to use . It found a fake $100 dollar bill one day in a stack that I was checking.
Which agency spent our tax money on that? Did they train you how to use the actual security features? I liked the movie especially the buried S.O.Liberty My favorite...The city is made of bricks. The strong make many, the starving make few, the dead make none! 
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Huh ?Quoted:
Quoted:
Good post. I work for the government and they gave us those counterfeit detecting pens to use . It found a fake $100 dollar bill one day in a stack that I was checking.
Which agency spent our tax money on that? Did they train you how to use the actual security features? I liked the movie especially the buried S.O.Liberty My favorite...The city is made of bricks. The strong make many, the starving make few, the dead make none!
He was commenting on Bohr Adam's avatar - Planet of the Apes, then quoted from The Ten Commandments, another Charleston Heston movie. |
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From the Treasury's website:
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 green, the $50 bill glows yellow, and the $100 bill glows red - IF THEY ARE AUTHENTIC! Didn't know that, will have to give it a try (need to have more than my sole $5 bill on hand though  )
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Real paper money will have actual green fibers interwoven with the white. That would be a real trick to accomplish for all but state-sponsored counterfitting like has been done in the middle east for decades. First off it's cloth not paper. Secondly the fibers aren't what you should look for. You should look for the blue and red pieces of lint on US currency. Remember a $100 bill from 1950 with few security features is worth just as much as a newly released $100 bill with all the bells and whistles. 90% of counterfeits can be "felt." Meaning without even looking at the bill you can feel that the money is different. Usually too thick, sometimes too thin. |
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It's 99% likely that a bank is going to be the source of any fake money given to me though an ATM machine. I drop by the machine and get a stack of $20 bills. I don't check each and every one of them and if I did find one what do I do? Argue with the machine? Drive to the bank and tell a teller that I got a fake bill from one of their machines?
Seriously. I'm not a big cash person but I'm not a big spender either. 
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From the Treasury's website: 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 green, the $50 bill glows yellow, and the $100 bill glows red - IF THEY ARE AUTHENTIC! Didn't know that, will have to give it a try (need to have more than my sole $5 bill on hand though )I just did a $20 and a $10 and the strip glows but not the entire bill FWIW ... got to pull out a new fiver from the safe and see the blue. I also found a whole bunch of 10's to the right of Hamilton's face around the torch which are easier to see with the UV vice full spectrum light but they do not glow. Found the same in the $5's too. Cool. 
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When I was in high school and right when the new green 20 bills came out there was a kid that brought $200 in counterfeit 20's. They were a VERY GOOD counterfiet and from what I was told you couldn't even tell the difference. He was waving them around and being all flashy which was the reason the 7-11 clerk called 911. Needless to say, high ranking officials in black cars picked him up from school that day and I never saw him again. <–– true story. For our business class we had a banker come in and show us counterfiet money. Most of the time people cut off the numbers on larger bills and glued them to the corners of smaller bills. This looked really ghey, but I suppose if your working register on a fast day it might slip by. I believe you pal. We had a group of high school kids here just a couple years back nailed for counterfeiting and I"m not talking $1 fake bills in the old car wash money machine either. 
Tj |
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Quoted: I also found a whole bunch of 10's to the right of Hamilton's face around the torch which are easier to see with the UV vice full spectrum light but they do not glow. Those small 10's are machine readable code. It tells newer software not to copy the bills. Photoshop, desktop scanners, and photocopiers will refuse to copy it or just print a black page. Av. |
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Out of curiosity has there ever been a problem with people bleaching smaller denominations and printing new ones on the same paper? Yes. Bleach and other products have been used to allow higher denominations to be printed on lower denominations. This is much of the reason for watermarks, different-sized notes (not used in the US), and security strips. Many countries even use transparent part of the paper in the design, which varies from one unit to the next. If you will note from the excellent pics posted on the previous page, the security strips are even located in different parts of the bills - making the "proper" denomination for US currency paper apparent even without reading the number. Using Google, I found what is really an excellent sales write-up from a company selling legitimate counterfeit detection equipment (as opposed to magic pens). http://www.coolsafetyproducts.com/site/898652/page/821813 There is also a pretty good (though somewhat confusing, in places) "How stuff works" article, here: http://money.howstuffworks.com/counterfeit4.htm Note this example from the article: "Nelson took [actual] $1 and $5 notes and, using tape, masked some of the genuine images such as the Treasury and Federal Reserve Seals, serial numbers, and the "This note is legal tender" advisory. The masked bills were then soaked in bleach to remove the images and denomination numbers ... Nelson then created a template that enabled him to photocopy images and detail from $50 and $100 notes onto the bleached areas of the original currency."
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