Poll of the Day > Somebody paid today with a fake $20 and now I own it.

(+) Yeah! (+)

This happened before I got to work today, I guess somebody paid with one, the cashier didn't notice until they tried to put it in the Tidel cash machine after a pickup and it wouldn't take it.

So, I decided to do something for the first time: buy a piece of paper money. This bill is worth literally zero dollars.

So, I will post a photo and recount all of the ways I can tell it is fake off the bat

https://imgur.com/wORyOms

1) The serial number looks weird. The letters and numbers are not the same height and the spacing is incorrect. Also, the ink looks like a poor print job...it is hard to see here but while serial numbers can be printed "off" or a little weird sometimes from the BEP, i've never seen this much ink on an entire serial number, and it isn't printed clean.

2) the serial number prefix is EE, which is problematic. EE corresponds to 2004A(E) series Richmond bank(E) note. for 2009 Richmond, it would be JE, as J is the designation letter for series 2009 notes. Also, underneath the serial on the left it says F96. I forget what this means exactly, but that letter there also corresponds with the series year designation, so this one would be J96 if real, or E96 on a competent fake.

3) no security strip in the fake note.

4) none of the lettering and symbols have that authentic metallic ink look

5) paper feels off and not at all like a normal bill

6) no ridges in Jackson's coat

7) the green seal on the right looks off, because the lettering for the word TWENTY isn't exactly right

This isn't even touching that yes the currency detection pen did turn the right color for a fake, but I wanna beat the ass of the fool who used it on here.

Now, if I was being quick as a cashier I don't know if I'd have spotted it immediately, especially since I am not expecting to have any fraud happen where I work. But given some time to look at it, this looks like a rough fake. Just good enough to pass by a lot of people, but the little details are off.

Definitely an improvement over the last time somebody used a fake bill this year

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You can usually tell right away that a counterfeit bill just doesn't feel right

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This one feels close, but the exact makeup of the Crane Paper Co. composition for US notes is a guarded secret, so it couldn't feel the same.

This feels alright, but off. Plus the crinkles in the note itself seem inconsistent with real US paper money, but that one I cannot actually verify at the moment.

The edges look wrong too, theyre too sharp. Bills tend to have sort of a softer edge to them, especially if theyve been circulating

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damn so you're telling me we could have had another month of riots if the clerk had just done his job?

I understand what you mean there Mead, but I don't think that actually matters. Though I can't say if that wear is consistent for the corners, I feel like i've seen crinkly bills with sharp corners before. But it is true, the corners are the hardest part of a note to not damage via handling.

I'm gonna maybe get out my nice camera and see if I can take better photos of this and a real note. I do have a stack of brand new gently circulated(mainly by me transporting them around the house) $20s($4,400 to be exact), so I have about as good a version of a real note you would suspect.

argonautweakend posted...

This isn't even touching that yes the currency detection pen did turn the right color for a fake, but I wanna beat the ass of the fool who used it on here.

then they bleached a $1 bill and turned it into a $20

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I love that you're so into this stuff.

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this is actually a pretty interesting topic. good work tc

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Blightzkrieg posted...

Definitely an improvement over the last time somebody used a fake bill this year

Too soon.

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You guys really should've called the cops.

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What happened is somebody paid with it and the cashier didn't notice until hours later likely when they tried to deposit it into our cash machine.

At that point, in a store with no cameras...who knows who did it? Calling the police who then should notify the FBI maybe would have been correct but it seems like a lost cause. Though i too wish my coworkers documented better but oh well. Im not even sure if id have noticed working quick this fake. It's after having 10 seconds to scan it nothing adds up.

https://www.treasury.gov/about/organizational-structure/offices/Treasurer-US/Pages/if-you-suspect.aspx

why does your store have no cameras

that seems like a huge oversight

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Burn it right away, it's against the law to posses that bill.
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We have cameras and they send signal to a small crt tv in the office but they do not record anything. Though ive never understood if they just didn't work or my GM just didn't want to deal with the whole VHS security system....because sometimes the guy wont do something because it wont work, and sometimes he doesnt do something because he is lazy. Never got the scoop on this one.

However, I do live in a virtually crime free suburb. Crime can happen anywhere, obviously. But it's really a once in a blue moon scenario, if that.

Every time I see these topics I think it's a bit weird, but cool

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https://imgur.com/a/BmP2ANI

argonautweakend posted...

4) none of the lettering and symbols have that authentic metallic ink look

This was my go-to for quick checks as a cashier. Tilt it to see if it reflects, if that failed then I checked others like the strip, ridges, and finally the pen test.

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When I was a cashier and cash handler I came across a handful of fakes in my time. The biggest tell for me was always the texture. They just don't feel like regular money. Almost like they're too smooth or something. Some people would try to make them appear more worn to disguise this, but they never got through me. I'm sure there's better counterfeits out there, but I never came across any that didn't seem fairly obvious to me.

Muscles posted...

Every time I see these topics I think it's a bit weird, but cool

we appreciate your insight

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I do

yeah, this one has decent texture but off. If you handle bills a lot like I do you can tell the differences between brand new, circulated, heavily circulated, and ran over by a tank in WWII condition that are legit, and anything else will feel weird.

It is also the fact currency is a mixture of cotton and linen, and not paper, but most fakes are using some type of paper.

Joe_Biden posted...

then they bleached a $1 bill and turned it into a $20

If that were the case it would have passed the pen test.

JigsawTDC posted...

but I never came across any that didn't seem fairly obvious to me.

That u know of.

hungrymike posted...

That u know of.

We had pretty thorough procedure and I worked the cash office later in my career there. Every bill is passed through two different counterfeit tests before we send it to the bank. If a bill fails, it counts as a cash variance on the drawer and the cashier is notified. Only once in the years I worked there did a counterfeit make it through our procedures and to the bank, and that was from a day I wasn't working the cash office.

tc what is it made of though? arent' most real bills made of fabric? this is made of regular old paper?

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