Adventures with Counterfeit Money

Print News: Adventures with Counterfeit Money


Recently Neil J. Petermann at the blog This Ain’t Your Father’s Office notes the story of 3 Maryland teenagers arrested for copying 10 dollar bills. So poor was the quality of the money they produced, the would-be counterfeiters were caught the first time they tried using the cash – of all things, while buying cigars underage. The teenagers employed a standard colour copier.

Once upon a time counterfeiting was the pastime of these equipped with costly printing presses, seeking to reproduce currency both for financial gain and prestige. Yet the advent of the inkjet printer has apparently devastated the quality standard of counterfeiting operations – even as it has increased their frequency. In January, the Kansas City Star featured a short interview with a Secret Service agent, complaining about the low standards of criminals printing money. Where the counterfeit dollar was once considered a ‘product’ in itself, subject to quality standards, today anyone with an Inkjet can supplement their income.

The Kansas City Star reports that in the period October 2007 – August 2008, $103 million in fake money was removed from circulation, 60% of which came from ordinary copiers. The problem is particularly bad in a recession, with people printing not only $50 but even $5 and even $1 bills. Yet the standard of counterfeit bills continues to fall, with criminals seeking the minimum to fool people.

Back in 1995, when the Kansas Secret Service found that inkjet counterfeits accounted for only 1% of fake bills, the Toledo Blade reported on the surprise quality of one counterfeiting operation. A pair in Michigan had succeeded in exchanging $50,000 in fake bills through an Austrian bank, produced using an expensive copier. Police at the time had believed the bills to be professional quality, and were surprised to discover them the work of two men in their mid-twenties. This only goes to show the importance of high-quality equipment in counterfeiting – aside from being ‘a bit glossy,’ the bills produced by the Michigan pair looked authentic, and had succeeded in fooling a number of bank tellers.

Moreover, the internet is a virtual hub for people looking into counterfeiting money. Websites like HowStuffWorks.com supply a detailed ‘How To’ for printing money in the guise of describing the process, aside articles about health and safety. In other words, computers have supplied not only the means but the knowledge for people ‘who want to get something for nothing.’ And while most amateur counterfeiters are immediately caught – as with the teenagers in Maryland – the appeal of counterfeiting money means the problem is unlikely to disappear.