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bh i ui <r ara-- -- a pe -~ ER Sr = I ------ "A Family Tradition for 132 Years" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, August 18, 1998 - 9 Counterfeit finders As a rash of fake bills turns up in Durham Region, cops are educating retailers on how to spot them By Chris Hall Port Perry Star An increase in the num- ber of counterfeit bills being passed in the region has Durham Regional Police stepping up their efforts to educate the public on identifying the funny money. Const. Pat Judges was at the storefront communi- ty police office in the Oshawa Centre last week, showing members of the public and employees at the mall's many stores how to pick out fake bills. "We started off with a display case in the window about three weeks ago and from there people just kept coming in and asking ques- tions, so we knew there was a real interest in it," the 25-year veteran said last Thursday. "People kept coming in and asking for tips on how to identify the bills; there were both customers and employees coming to us and asking." With an increase on the number of phony bills being passed in the region this year over 1997, Const. Judges says it's important that people learn to tell the difference. "There's store owners who do up the receipts and make the deposits, and then the bank catches the fake bills. If the employees knew what to look for, then there would be fewer losses at the end of the year for the companies," he said, explaining that neither the bank or the police are responsible for reimburs- ing businesses or individu- als who find themselves in possession of fake bills. The first line of defence 1s to be suspicious of all bills that pass through the register. "The most common counterfeit bills are 100s and 20s, but no one checks the 20s. People look at 100s and 50s when they come into contact with them, but hardly ever the 20s... Counterfeit 20s are just as common as 100s," said Const. Judges. He admits that it's get- ting more difficult to iden- tify counterfeits. "They used to be easy to pick out but now they (counterfeiters) are getting more and more sophisti- cated," he said. "We used to be able to spot them with a naked eye, and in most cases we still can, but with new tech- nology, 1t 1s getting tougher. People are using color pho- tocopiers and color printers with more advanced com- puter systems." With that, he says there is only one sure way to pos- itively identify a bill as a counterfeit: "Compare a L Durham Regional Police Const. Pat Judges with a counterfeit $100 that was passed in the region. With funny money becoming more prevalent here, police are hoping to educate the public and retailers on spotting fake bills. bill you already have in the till to the one you think may be fake," he said. "That 1s the easiest and quickest way to do it. If you think there is some- thing different about a cer- tain bill, a $20, pull another $20 out of the till or your pocket and check it. If 1t's fake, you'll know it right away." When looking at the bills, you'll notice subtle differences that will stand out when you know what to look for in a fake: 2 "You'll be able to tell if you have a photocopied counterfeit bill because the paper, the bill, will be smooth," said Const. Judges. "Genuine bills are not smooth; they have raised lettering that you can feel when you run your hands over it. "With a real bill, vou can rub off a little bit of ink on prece of paper because there 1s ink on top of the bill from the printing; vou cant rub anvthing off a photocopy because there's no real ink there." a Another dead give- away 1s the holographic image on the top left hand corner of $20, $50, and $100 bills. On a real bill the reflective area will change back and forth between green and gold when you move it back and forth in the light. Fake ones do not. a Planchettes, also known as waterspots, are also a sure way to tell if you're holding a fake bill, said Const. Judges. "If there are no planchettes on the bill or if the bill rips when you pull them off, then the bill is counterfeit," he said, adding that other lines on the bill can also be used as indicators to tell if the bill is legit. a "If you look under a magnifying glass at the bill, you'll see that Canadian currency 1s very distinct," said Const. Judges. "The pictures on the bill, everything, is made of lines. The circles are made out of lines, there are no dots. "If vou look at the images closely, at the let- tering, and it 1s smudged or unfocused, then once again it 1s fake. The Canadian Mint does not print fuzzy money." Durham Region has also seen its fair share of coun- terfeit American money, said Const. Judges. "One sure way to check their money is to look for their fibres: that's what they have instead of our planchettes. "You can pull them off the bill and 1t'll look like a little string. If you can't pull it off, or it rips the bill, then it's fake." American $50 and $100 bills have gone through some changes that make counterfeiting them more difficult: "The (president's) image 1s now full-size and slightly left, off-centre. You can tell it's real by that and if you can see the image right through the bill on the other side. The image comes right through." In an effort to combat counterfeit scams, says some businesses have begun to keep a black light beside the register which helps them determine real bills from phony ones. The planchettes show up under black lights; they appear to glow. Black lighting is the quickest way to find out if the bill is real. The goal of counterfeit- ers is to get real money back from businesses in exchange for fake bills. "They'll go to a shop and get a coffee and a donut and pay with $100 to get real money." Consumers caught with a counterfeit bill shouldn't have to worry if they remember where they got the money from, and can prove that they're not in on the scam. "If you don't know you have one and you pass it and get caught, don't get offended or mad, you'll just attract attention. Let the police come and talk with you; hopefully you can pass along some information to them that will help." But if you're caught with 10 or 15 bills, you're going to have to do a bit more explaining. "Anyone can carry coun- terfeit money and not know 1t," said Const. Judges. Most of the time it shows up in bank deposits and isn't caught until the tellers check it." According to Durham Regional Police figures, almost $64,000 in counter- feit bills have been passed in the region between Jan. 1 and Aug. 11. Included in that were 25 reports of fake $5 bills; H9 counts of false 10s; 122 reports of counterfeit $20; 42 calls about phonv $50; and 101 reports of fake $100. 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