They look real, they feel real, they don't appear fake to counterfeit detection pens, but the latest counterfeit $100 bills to hit the streets are clever copies and your employees and commercial customers should be alerted to how to spot them.
The thieves are using chemicals to bleach the color off $5 bills. Once that has been accomplished and the bills have dried, they print a scanned image of a $100 bill on the back and face of the blank item, using an ink jet printer. The technique produces what appears to be $100 cash, made with authentic government money paper. For tellers who have been trained to detect counterfeits by feel alone, these bills can easily slip through unnoticed.
The bills even have the security thread. But that's one of the two features that trips up the forgers. When held up to the light, it's possible to detect the security thread is from a $5.00 bill. Even more tellingly, the watermark of President Lincoln is still visible when light shines through the note. On a real $100 bill, Benjamin Franklin occupies that spot.
By subjecting all $100 bills to a quick "light test," recipients will be able to easily discern their legitimacy.
Three men were recently arrested in this scam. At the scene, authorities found numerous ID cards, including 20 to 30 driver's licenses with one suspect's photo, all with a different name. They also found credit cards, death certificates, other identification cards, five computers and printers.
After being arrested, one of the counterfeiters was still on a major ego trip, asking the authorities, "Aren't these good? Aren't these the best you've ever seen?" Gee, isn't it nice to see someone take pride in their work . . .?
In case you're wondering, yes, I do know Franklin was not a president. I liked the title anyway.
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The thieves are using chemicals to bleach the color off $5 bills. Once that has been accomplished and the bills have dried, they print a scanned image of a $100 bill on the back and face of the blank item, using an ink jet printer. The technique produces what appears to be $100 cash, made with authentic government money paper. For tellers who have been trained to detect counterfeits by feel alone, these bills can easily slip through unnoticed.