Clever tip for detecting counterfeits, found in comments:
>'A good strong, neodynmium cylindrical magnet stuck to the side of something is a great way to check US currency. Just hold a bill by the corner and dangle it close to the magnet. The bill will show a slight, but very observable attraction. Easy and fast.'
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterfeit_banknote_detection...
It's actually possible to print realistic currency as long as it doesn't match (in certain ways) real currency. When I was in the graphics industry we would get memos from the secret service. I don't remember the specifics but one was the size of the bill. IIRC it doesn't have as much to do (as you would think) with an exact copy.
So then the question becomes if you try to sell fake currency that isn't really even the right type of fake it's fraud. Same as if you sell any good online that isn't represented the way you describe it. And goes by the fraud laws.
But here's the thing. Nobody is going to turn you in if you scammed them on buying fake dollar bills.
Do you have any references for that? Besides the top layer of these sites, I was under the impression that if you go down your "vouchers" go down with you.
http://www.secretservice.gov/money_law.shtml
"Possession of counterfeit United States obligations with fraudulent intent is a violation"
Specifically, at least on that page, it would not appear to be a crime to buy counterfeit money as long as a) you didn't use it and b) you didn't try to sell it.
[1] Edit: Add manufacture as well...
A couple of local guys that worked for me had a lot of fun testing my abilities to detect fake bills, which are plentiful in Ecuador. Even when they gave me two bills and told me one was real and one was fake, I couldn't discern any difference after 5 months of them showing me all the tricks of the trade.
The copies are extremely good, and I suspect not many people in the US are going to spend the time to check if a $10 or $20 is fake.
Many places will at least use the marker test on a $20.
"As it turns out, the Feds have strict laws about the production of fake currency. According to the Counterfeit Detection Act of 1992, a reproduced bill must be: a.) either less than 75% or more than 150% the size of a real bill, b.) one-sided, and c.) made with only one color (so as to discourage the reproduction of identifying factors). "
http://priceonomics.com/the-business-of-fake-hollywood-money...
The Robert Harris account is excellent and there is a great quote from the forger along the lines of "A document isn't real or fake, it's efficient of inefficient". I highly recommend reading the book.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berwyn_Heights,_Maryland_mayor'...
"had drugs shipped" is a little ambiguous: someone shipped drugs using the mayor's house as the destination; Mayor Calvo had no knowledge or involvement in this. Despite his lack of involvement, the SWAT teams shot both of his Labrador retrievers, including one that was fleeing.
Photo of the mayor and the deceased: http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2009/09...
I seem to recall that the package (drugs, etc) was addressed to the Mayor's home but was intercepted at the distribution center by the shipping employee (involved in the scheme) before being delivered.
Seriously, most people would order this for delivery outside the US (where it's even less likely to be detected if passed at a bank or bureau de change). If they want to use it in the US, order it for delivery elsewhere and tehn smuggle it in.
Ordering for delivery by the USPS would be insanely stupid unless you had a very clearly document legitimate purpose. I'm a bit surprised Krebs didn't order some for himself - with his public standing as a security expert I'm sure his lawyer could work out a way for him to obtain some and then turn it over to law enforcment after assessing it.
Of course, it's quite likely that this is some sort of honey trap designed to attract less astute buyers from the world of organized crime/terrorism.
"As soon as I am done assessing the fake $75,000 I'll turn all $50,000 of it over to the cops. I wouldn't want to have $25,000 in fake bills lying around where someone might find them and wind up spending $10,000 in fake bills."
It would be a real problem if this $1,000 in fake money got out into the wild"
In the Eurozone, €50 notes are very frequently used - it would be unusual to be specifically suspicious of that denomination - while €100 notes are far more rare.
Edit: Some data - http://www.federalreserve.gov/paymentsystems/coin_data.htm#v...
If the population is too immersed in tradition, win them over with the coolest notes ever. Something using dark blue and dark red with white/silver could look awesome. Rather than what we have in Australia, Canada and Europe where there are 5-6 completely different colours used, one for each note.
I wondered if it's something to do with patents? Australia's RBA has a subsidiary that prints notes for various countries. Maybe there's a competing technology that Canada is using?
I quite like that and never really understood why US bills are only green. If I look for 50€ in my wallet, I’m going to skip over the blues and greens and essentially directly pick the right orang-y one.
I’ve also never seen anyone suspicious of 50€, people sometimes look funny if they see 100€, but even that happens rarely.
Privacy, cost and protocol issues left as an exercise.
Nope. No way to do that reliably with a piece of paper.
I cannot seem to find a list.
Heck washing dollar bills is a way to get base paper for higher denominations. (one of the incentives for moving away from consistently colored currency)
