April 22, 2014 - Counterfeit Currency Detection: Good for your Community

I get news-clippings everyday from Google.  It's quite amazing, actually, this ability to have a robot search and clip news stories relevant to what we do in our lives.  One of the terms I have asked Google to clip for me is "counterfeit money", and I get stories everyday from around the globe.  The stories vary, as you can imagine.

1. Convicted felon, 52, receives 10 months for forgery, meth   Hawaii Tribune-Herald Apr 18

2. Meth, funny money production found in search   Rockdale News-Apr 14, 2014

3. Pomona police seize meth, counterfeit money in bust  Inland Valley Daily Bulletin-Apr 14, 2014

4. Meth, needles, fake IDs seized during traffic stop  Lincoln Times-News-Apr 2, 2014

5. Shooting leads police to counterfeiting, prostitution Jackson Clarion Ledger-Apr 12, 2014,  Investigators determined all four individuals were staying in the same motel room, where crystal meth, syringes and the counterfeiting tools and ..

6. Luck runs out for credit-card thieves KTVU San Francisco-Apr 7, 2014  ..........Detectives also seized thousands of dollars in cash, drugs, meth pipe and a laptop.......

The last story here involves fake credit cards.  Although not counterfeit currency, I feel it is important to note that for forgers, it doesn't really matter which form of fraudulent behavior they choose, as long as they can benefit.  It's simply a matter of what is most convenient and who do they have connections with.  The group caught in the 6th story were buying stolen credit card numbers in the DarkNet, and embossing the stolen numbers onto card-stock in their hotel room.  They were caught trying to get cash-advances at a casino - but not until after they had succeeded multiple times.

This short list, above, is not nearly all of the stories that turned up just in the month of April.  There were, literally, dozens of such stories.  So, the answer to my self-posed question seems to be - a lot!  A lot of busts for methemphetamine often turn up counterfeit currency.

Fraud Prevention = Increased Safety 

Around 12 years ago, we began a conversation with our customers.  Some listened and nodded their heads.  Others scoffed and thought "just another sales gimmic".  But the reality is - if you take steps to detect and deter counterfeit fraud in your business locations, you are effectively working to make your business - and your community - less susceptible to these criminals.

Your business becomes a safer location.  One of our customers - a national operator of gas and conveniance stores, told us that when they started using the UV-16 counterfeit detection scanner in their locations, the cashiers and store managers started to notice fewer "sketchy" looking individuals coming to their locations and hanging around. Also, the phenomenon of the "turn around and leave" began to become apparent.

The "turn around" is what happens when a business begins checking all the documents that are presented at the cash register.  If someone is standing in line and they see your cashier checking currency, credit cards, ID documents etc., then they will realize that their forged document just might be detected. So, they drop what they were going to buy and walk out the store. 

This is why it is important - not only to check for fraudulent behavior at the point-of-sale - but to do so religiously, not allowing frontline people to pick and choose who they will check, and who they won;t.  Maybe the person buying the goods right now is a good honest person, but the person in line behind them may not be - and if they see that you checked the clean-cut honest looking person, then they KNOW you are going to check them!