DETECTING FAKES – COUNTERFEIT MONEY

If you hadn’t noticed, every couple of years, the US Treasury completely redesigns the American currency. Just compare a few Ben Franklins from today and just a few years ago. They are radically different. Just in the last decade, the US has added different colors, designs, watermarks and other highly sophisticated elements into its currency to help reduce the prevalence of counterfeit dollars.

Just today, I was called by one of my stores about some funny money. It seems as if one of our new cashiers had accepted 5 crisp, new and ultimately fake, $100 bills. To say I was a bit frustrated was an understatement. For all the technology out there, it all still comes down to a cashier simply paying attention. You may say to yourself that it’s impossible for a fake bill to pass through your store. Maybe you think this because you have that fancy counterfeit detector pen. Would you be surprised if I told you that some of the better fakes can pass that test with flying colors? Yep, it’s true. I’ve personally seen some exceptionally made $20’s that, when marked, appear to be legit. So if the markers don’t work, how can you stop the madness?

Training. Training. More training. Your cashier is you last line of defense. They are taking in money all day long, so it’s only common sense that they be able to detect a fake quickly. I have friends in the banking industry and there are people out there that can spot a fake blind folded (based solely on the feel of the paper). So what’s your first step? The US Secret Service has a website dedicated to the detection of counterfeit currency. (http://www.secretservice.gov/know_your_money.shtml and http://www.newmoney.gov/). I constantly reference these resources when I’m conducting new store training, or manager training in my stores. You can’t get any better training material out there and the best part is that it’s all free!

Just as any other fraud scheme, the fraudsters will compete with new technology to defeat the controls and new controls will be implemented to fight the fraudsters. Counterfeiting is no different and as technology improves, you can bet that our dollars will get smarter. By staying on top of the latest changes and trends though, you can do your part to save your business the embarrassment of accepting phony tender.