Secret Service: Christmas cash may be fake

By Mashaun D. Simon

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

This holiday season, Santa Claus will not be the only thing fake in stores and malls.

Consumers and businesses should expect to see more counterfeit bills, said Jeffrey T. Gilbert, special agent in charge of the United States Secret Service Atlanta.

“We cannot reiterate enough how important it is to look at your money,” said Gilbert. “Counterfeiting is a crime of opportunity. And it can be devastating on a business, a family, even our economy.”

With the advancements in color copiers, counterfeiters are getting more creative. By bleaching the notes of $5 bills they are able to reprint them as $100 bills. These bills, printed on official U.S. Treasury paper, are passing the counterfeit pen test.

Here are some clues that a bill is fake:

* On a genuine bill, the portrait stands out from the background. The counterfeit portrait is usually lifeless and flat.

* On a genuine bill, the Federal Reserve and Treasury seals are clear, distinct, and sharp.

* On a genuine bill, the borders are clear and unbroken. On the counterfeit, the lines may be blurred and indistinct.

* On a genuine bill, the currency paper has tiny red and blue fibers embedded throughout. On the counterfeit note the lines are printed on the surface, not embedded in the paper.

As one of the oldest crimes in American history, counterfeiting is not more rampant in one part of town or specific to one ethnic group, said Gilbert.

“Whenever you have an economic system that is the largest in the world and people are losing jobs there will be attempts to try and replicate our currency,” said Gilbert.

At the present, the Secret Service is not seeing a trend or spike in Atlanta and surrounding areas, but counterfeiting is a $600 billion-a-year problem, according to the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition.

For more information on how to detect counterfeit bills, the Secret Service has set up a page on their Web site.