Counterfeit Corner

This month we look at how to deter the most common types of counterfeits.

Counterfeit banknotes can be produced by simply photocopying or scanning and printing the banknote image on a paper or plastic substrate (do not be tempted!). These counterfeits will not have any of the security features simulated and are quite obviously fake, at least to us in the security industry.

So, why do these notes get passed into circulation so often?

Let’s be honest with ourselves; as much as we would love the rest of the world to appreciate the highly complex banknotes in circulation, most people simply don’t care. They believe their banknotes are genuine and have no idea about the security features carefully designed into them. Public education and awareness campaigns can give the cash handlers the information they need to authenticate currency.

A central bank will (hopefully) know what their counterfeiting rates are and understand what percentage of their counterfeits are simple copies. By developing an inclusive and comprehensive public education program, many of these counterfeits can be stopped at the merchant/cashier stage before they enter into circulation.

Many countries are creating short training videos for cash handlers to refresh their authentication skills, but this doesn’t have to be a Hollywood Studios production. This can be distributed to commercial banks, cash-in-transit (CITs), grocery stores, corner shops, petrol stations, hotels, airports, resorts, local markets, anywhere that handles currency. If all of these institutions just looked for one security feature on the counterfeit copies, they would prevent lots of counterfeit banknotes from being accepted.

The key in public education is to educate, not alarm. You don’t want to create a panic among the public that your country is overrun with counterfeit banknotes, but instil confidence that they can detect the simple counterfeits among the genuine banknotes.

The high-quality counterfeit banknotes will need to be examined further in order to assist the police in locating the counterfeiting operation, but that’s another story.

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