Those counterfeit checking pens

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I think the five or six most recent cash purchases I've been involved in have had the clerk pulling out one of those yellow felt-tip pens to check for counterfeit currency.

Really?

Is counterfeit that common? Are the stores store mostly trying to just send a "don't you dare try to spend your fake bucks here" message?

Is it really worth the clerk's time?

Took my friend to spend $127 today on fabric and patterns. She paid in cash and out came that yellow marker. Oh, of course they did give her a loyalty card before they even finished ringing up the purchase. "Spend your money here; there's a discount in it for you. But watch out, we've got our eye on you and your fake money."

What do you think about this? Does it bother you? Amuse you? Make you wonder if you have a guilty looking face or something?

[jpg7n16]

I used to work for a bank that regularly got deposits from a large retailer. And yes - it is that common.

It's nothing against the customer, half the time people didn't know that the money was fake. Some times they were such good replicas that the employee didn't even know.

But imagine running a business, and trying to account for losing $100-500/day on counterfeit money. [edit: by that I don't mean the average, I meant having to account for days where you lost $100-500 to counterfeit money] A few small pens would easily cut that down (and seem well worth the price).


The main thing is... the pens don't always work. There are other better ways to check a bill out. (holding up to a light, using a black light, etc.)

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Wow, $100-$500 a day in counterfeit? Seems like I eventually would have some in my hands at that rate. That would be awfully embarrassing.

So are the banks somehow checking money as it comes in? Is it automated?

[jpg7n16]

We had large cash deposits made regularly. We had to check all bills $20 and higher through a counterfeit machine - and had to check $100 bills by hand.

Some days, it'd be $20. Some days a couple hundreds would slip through. We're talking cash deposits of $100k-300k. So $100 here or there is a very small percentage, but worth training people over. And that's even accounting for the cashiers having the pens.

Thinking back on it, $100-500 wasn't the average day, and my post seems to read that way. The average day would be I guess around $50. So I think my first post may have been misleading, now that I read it again. But there were definitely days when the totals fell in that range (which was what I meant). Often enough that I still check any bills I get - even from the bank.

I remember one day where some guy tried to buy a TV and other electronics with $1500 in fake $100's (pretty good fakes too) - thankfully they caught the guy, but they gave us the bills to process and report (you have to report them to the Secret Service). But if you don't check the bills, how would you ever know? And how would you decide which customers to check??

[bennkar]

I guess I don't understand... you're talking about US bills, not personal checks, right? Don't all modern bills have the security strip you can see if you hold it up to the light? I do that on any large bill I get, and I've never had a problem determining it was good. How would these pens do better than that?

[jpg7n16]

I guess I don't understand... you're talking about US bills, not personal checks, right? Don't all modern bills have the security strip you can see if you hold it up to the light? I do that on any large bill I get, and I've never had a problem determining it was good. How would these pens do better than that?

Yes. US Currency.

Cause you can swipe a pen over $1000 in 50's faster than you can hold up each individually to a light. It's about speed, not necessarily accuracy. You're correct that there are other better methods of determining a counterfeit - but there aren't other faster and cheaper methods.

The fastest method is under a blacklight because you can fan the securities out and look for the colored security strips. If they are missing on a bill (or have the color of a different bill - which will happen if someone has 'washed' a $5 and reprinted a $100 note in its place), pull it and investigate.

"Why does this $100 bill have a watermark of Abraham Lincoln??" Answer: cause it's a counterfeit (a 'raised' bill)
"Then why did the pen say it was okay??" Answer: because it was reprinted on legitimate US currency paper, which is what the pen checks


I believe Joan's question was - "why do they check them at all?? do they not trust us? is it really such a common issue that you have to check every single person?"

[bjl584]

I think the five or six most recent cash purchases I've been involved in have had the clerk pulling out one of those yellow felt-tip pens to check for counterfeit currency.

Really?

Is counterfeit that common? Are the stores store mostly trying to just send a "don't you dare try to spend your fake bucks here" message?

Is it really worth the clerk's time?

Took my friend to spend $127 today on fabric and patterns. She paid in cash and out came that yellow marker. Oh, of course they did give her a loyalty card before they even finished ringing up the purchase. "Spend your money here; there's a discount in it for you. But watch out, we've got our eye on you and your fake money."

What do you think about this? Does it bother you? Amuse you? Make you wonder if you have a guilty looking face or something?

I work part time in retail, and yes, it is common. We are required to check all bills $20 and up. Some people do get offended, but the policy is what it is. The manager tells you to do it, so you just do it. Sometimes without thinking about it. It was a directive that came down from corporate about two years ago. I believe that some counterfeit bills were passed at a store sometime after the housing and stock market crash back in late 2008. A corporation being a corporation took the blanket, one size fits all approach, and mandated that all stores everywhere check all large bill currency that is passed at their stores.

I've never found a counterfeit bill by the way. Even if I did, no one ever bothered to tell me what I should do about it.

[disneysteve]

My cousin worked in banking for the past couple of decades. Several times, he's told us about times when they were all called down to view some recently confiscated counterfeit currency. They would pass the bills around and he was frequently amazed at the quality of the fake bills. They would very, very easily pass routine inspection. As digital technology gets better and better, counterfeiting has gotten easier and easier. So no, I have no problem with them checking my bills.

[Karlise]

I came into possession of a fake $50 one time...never suspected a thing and the countefeit pen caught it! I was so embarressed. Of course the clerk had to keep it, there's nothing you can do, you are just out $50! They have to file a police report I guess, but it's nothing against you...they just need to track where fake bills are turning up. I reported that I had received it at a restaurant I'd worked at at the time and had cashed in my tips to get the bill. So obviously one of our customers had paid with it...probably also never knowing it was counterfeit. Later we purchaed a counterfeit pen....a fake $20 would surface at least once or twice a week! That's a lot of fake money over time.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I've got a bit of cash and I'm going to go through the $20's and up to check for the security strips.

[Frugal]

I would not take it too personally. Major retailers all do it as a matter of policy, because like someone else said here, most often the person using it does not know it is counterfeit.

I used to work in retail, and any large bill we were supposed to check as a precaution.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

No, I don't take it personally. I think it was in 2001 that I first had a bill yellow-penned. So that's ten years of it at certain stores. Now it is more prevalent. I just thought it was more for show than practicality. I mean after all---bjl584 is trained to check, but not trained what to do if a fake is found.

Anyhow, just checked all my cash. $5 and up have the strip. All mine have them.

Now if I could just stop the cashiers from giving me foreign coins in change!

[jpg7n16]

Just for those who are curious: How To Detect Counterfeit Money: United States Secret Service

More info than you'd ever want to know: United States Secret Service: Know Your Money - Counterfeit Awareness

From: United States Secret Service: Know Your Money - Counterfeit Awareness

If You Receive a Counterfeit

• Do not return it to the passer.
  
  
• Delay the passer if possible.
  
  
• Observe the passer's description, as well as that of any companions, and the license plate numbers of any vehicles used.
  
  
• Contact your local police department or United States Secret Service field office. These numbers can be found on the inside front page of your local telephone directory.
  
  
• Write your initials and the date in the white border areas of the suspect note.
  
  
• Limit the handling of the note. Carefully place it in a protective covering, such as an envelope.
  
  
• Surrender the note or coin only to a properly identified police officer or a U.S. Secret Service special agent.

[woodie96]

A friend of mine cashed his check at his employers bank, went straight from there to his bank to pay his car loan, and walla, one of the 100 bills were fake.
Fortunately for him, his boss got involved with their bank, and the bank gave him his money.
Talk about a wierd situation...