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WESTBOROUGH, Mass. - A counterfeit $20 passed at Julio's Liquors has its owner warning other businesses to be on the lookout for fakes.
"Stuff like this is happening more, not less, with the current state of the economy," said Ryan Maloney, owner of Julio's Liquors, which recently dealt with a counterfeit $20 bill.
Maloney said that the counterfeit didn't get noticed by Julio's employees, but was caught by the bank after it was deposited. The bill was returned to the store, which handed it over to police. The perpetrator, however, may never be caught.
"We've caught some (counterfeiters) before, but that's because the store caught on right away, or got the plate number off the vehicle the person drove," said Police Chief Alan Gordon.
If a counterfeit bill isn't identified before it is used in purchase, the business loses money on the product purchased and any change given back. A business is hit hardest when a counterfeit $50 or $100 bill is used to buy an inexpensive item.
High quality consumer laser printers makes it easier for counterfeiters to replicate bills, according to Gordon. American Express travelers checks are also being replicated, and so are personal and business checks.
"There are a lot of scams with people making purchases over eBay or Craigslist," Gordon said. "The (forged) check will be sent for more money than what the purchase price was agreed on. There perpetrator will then ask the victim to return the difference, claiming they made a mistake."
For local businesses, education may be the best weapon against counterfeiting.
"Just train your employees," Gordon said. "The banks will tell you the safe guards to look for with larger denominations. The banks will certainly make the business aware of what exactly to look for, and will report on what's being passed (as counterfeits) in the area."
Maloney said that store employees are instructed to examine denominations of $20, $50, and $100. However, he noted that in the course of a busy business day, the counterfeit bill might be easy to overlook.
Comments (3)
I'm told that counterfeiters never get the crisp detail on the graphical borders. The Treasury uses Intaglio (sp?) printing which is very expensive to set up. If you are questioning a bill, look at the borders compared to a note that you know is real. The borders ona real bill have very sharp details. Fake bills are usually more muttled. The White House shadowing on the fake bill shown above lacks the deepness of a real bill too.
You can always tell the feel of real money too. The half cloth/half paper mix produced out in Dalton, Massachusetts is nearly impossible to duplicate. All bills of $10 and above have a plastic ribbon imbedded in the paper that has the numerical value of the bill almost microprinted on it with the value repeated. That's a tough one to fake too. Look at the Green Treasury stamp on any bill. The value of the bill is overstamped on that, but neither of the different colored stamps loses their color or blends in with the other.
Apparently $20s are the bill most commonly counterfeited. People look very closely at $50s and $100s, $20s, not so much. It is theorized that Iran is attempting to flood the world with fake $20s.
Is there any way to point out what makes that $20 counterfeit? I can't see it.
Great question, Singletary. In speaking with Westborough Police about this story, we decided to omit what to look for and direct businesses to their banking representatives. The reason for this is that we didn't want to inform counterfeiters what businesses, police, and banks are looking for when attempting to identify counterfeit bills.
-John Swinconeck