Making and passing counterfeit currency is a multimillion dollar market. With low-cost inkjet printers and computers it is an uncomplicated business to get into. Pretty much anyone can print fake revenue. Retail associates are not correctly equipped to recognize fake bills and most often the bills are not identified as fake till they reach the bank.
Numerous retailers rely on counterfeit detection pens to check bigger bills at their money registers. These pens are not the ideal way to catch counterfeit bills. The pens use iodine to react chemically with the starch located in papers made from wood pulp, but true dollars is not printed on paper produced from wood pulp. You swipe the pen across the bill and if it the iodine reacts with starch the mark will turn black and recognize the bills as fake. If the mark remains yellow or clear the bill is genuine. This will catch the amateur who prints income on an inkjet printer with inexpensive paper, but it will not catch the experienced counterfeiter who can acquire higher high-quality cotton paper that does not use starch. Yet another way to get actual paper to print bills on is to bleach (“wash”) smaller bills then use the resulting blank paper to print a larger bill. Pens can also be fooled by making use of hair spray or fabric softener to coat fake bills.
There are lots of much better solutions. The easiest and least expensive answer is to train associates to determine a fake bill by holding it up to the light and seeking at the watermark. All US bills have a watermark of the face on the bill to the right of the printed face. The watermark face can be seen by holding the bill up to vibrant light or sunlight. The face on the watermark will have to match the face on the bill. Another affordable resolution is a ultraviolet detector.
Placing the bill into the ultraviolet detector will quickly identify fake bills. Also out there are hand held flashlight variety ultra violet detectors. One far more choice is an automatic bill detector. Fake money that is real run about $300 and you just spot the bill into the machine at the point of sale and it checks the bill and feeds it back to you.
If you recognize a fake bill do not return it to the consumer. Retain the bill and contact local authorities. If this is not achievable then attempt to bear in mind a detailed description of the suspect and their vehicle and report the crime to law enforcement. To try to pass a fake bill on just after you accept it is a crime.
Relying on a low cost counterfeit detection pen to recognize counterfeit dollars is not going to perform. There are much better methods to protect yourself from fake revenue. Place a strategy in place today and train your staff on how to safeguard your business.