Posted on 01/06/2009 9:56:25 AM PST by BGHater
The Secret Service agent in Kansas City peered hard at a counterfeit $100 bill, ran a finger over it and grimaced in disgust.
It was bad, ugly work.
“Too slick, too,” said Charles Green, special agent in charge.
More counterfeiters are using today’s ink-jet printers, computers and copiers to make money that’s just good enough to pass, he said, even though their product is awful.
In the past, he said, the best American counterfeiters were skilled printers who used heavy offset presses to turn out decent 20s, 50s and 100s. Now that kind of work is rare and almost all comes from abroad.
Among American thieves, the 22-year veteran said sadly, “it’s a lost art.”
But as art fades, greed goes on. Ink-jet counterfeiting is thriving.
Part of the problem, Green said, is that the government has changed the money so much to foil counterfeiting. With all the new bills out there, citizens and even many police officers don’t know what they’re supposed to look like.
Moreover, many people see paper money less because they use credit or debit cards.
The result: Ink-jet counterfeiting accounted for 60 percent of $103 million in fake money removed from circulation from October 2007 to August 2008, the Secret Service reports. In 1995, the figure was less than 1 percent.
No other kind hits the Kansas City area, Green said, except a rare “floater” fake that comes in from New York or some other coastal metropolis.
Counterfeiting is a constant problem that gets worse during a slow economy. The 15 Secret Service agents in Kansas City collect an average of $300,000 in fake bills in the metro area each year, he said.
But Green shook his head. Some fake bills nowadays are for $5 and $10 — even $1.
“It’s crazy.”
An era passes
(Excerpt) Read more at kansascity.com ...
OK... $1 fake bills? Somewhere there is a village missing an idiot...
We should have these “fine folks” keep printing money so we can bail ourselves out.....
US needs to get with the times and start using polymer currency. Check out Australia currency
Are they trying to fool people, or just running a few on a color copier to fool a vending machine?
They’re just following the Fed’s lead, printing fiat money. Not that I’m in favor of counterfeiting, but they’re doing just what the Fed is doing. Only differences is that 1) they’re not “government” and 2) their quality sucks.
Ben’s printing enough fake money for everyone. And he can do it more cheaply than the counterfeiters. It’s simple competition.
Probably printed for investing in the lottery.
Many businesses check larger bills, even 20’s. They don’t have time to test every $1 bill.
A few days ago, I paid for something at Wal-Mart with a $5 bill. To my surprise, she took out a pen and made a mark across it.
Really felt insulted as I had never even heard of a $5 counterfeit. I guess they are out there tho.
EASY way to identify counterfeit money.....the clothing of the individual on the bill will be smooth.....on REAL money, the clothing has ridges....i.e. texture....counterfeiters cannot replicate that very easily.
I always ask the cashier if they have ever found a fake bill after they check mine. Only a few have said yes. But they are out there.
Fake money....It’s all fake now!
These people are just engaging in monetary policy...
Yep, and I believe that the penalty is exactly the same for $100's as $1's.
Idiot. Go Big or don't bother.
Not that easy, need to use magnetic ink, I think.
The vending machine reads the ink, not the picture on the bill. Or at least it used to, times have changed.
I saw somewhat get caught passing a fake $1.00 bill once. She didn’t know it was a fake, but it was pretty funny.
Damn. Another example of Americans not taking pride in the quality of their work.
Every “dollar” bill in your pocket is fake. It’s just that the Federal Reserve, which is neither federal, nor is it a reserve, has a monopoly on fake money.
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