Paid in Fraudulent notes!

[James Manford]

Originally Posted by Warren Kawamoto

Every forger will claim they're innocent, that they don't know how they ended up with the money. My guess is that once arrested, the police and FBI have probable cause (because they have the fake money in hand) to investigate further and to obtain search warrants if necessary, or to detain a person for further questioning. Being arrested doesn't mean you're charged (yet) with any crime.

Here, it is very common for merchants to use test pens to make sure the money they receive is real.

As long as they arrest with a bit of common sense rather than for every case, it's fair enough.

Being arrested for handing over 3 fake £20 notes out of a £1000+ being deposited into a business account is waste of tax payers money and plain silly. But if he came in with a considerable amount of fake notes, it would be fair to arrest to question and gather more intel to where the notes came from.

[Dave Partington]

Originally Posted by James Manford

As long as they arrest with a bit of common sense rather than for every case, it's fair enough.

Being arrested for handing over 3 fake £20 notes out of a £1000+ being deposited into a business account is waste of tax payers money and plain silly. But if he came in with a considerable amount of fake notes, it would be fair to arrest to question and gather more intel to where the notes came from.

Though to be fair.... those questions could easily be asked and answered without having to be arrested ;)

[Byron Jones]

I have worked in banking for seven years working as a teller, head teller, and vault teller at three different banks (due to advancements). I have to agree with Don that it is possible to slip a really good one past a teller, but it is EXTREMELY unlikely. Tellers go through extensive training in counterfeiting including samples of some of the best. I know countries use different notes and some may harder to fake then others, but I put the chances of fake bills slipping past tellers in the USA at less than 1%. These people handle larger quantities of bills in one day then most people even imagine. Tellers can tell a fake by sight without touching it and by touch with their eyes closed. Put one in a stack of a 100 good ones and let them count the bills with their eyes closed and they will pull it out of the pile. The chances of a fake being automatically dispensed are even smaller as all of those bills are counted by two different tellers. There are also counting machines used that do a pretty good job at spitting out fakes as well. Needless to say, I don't buy the clients story. They might not be the criminal, but if not, I bet the notes came from somewhere else and got mixed in. In regards to the police being called, that would never happen to a customer known by the bank tellers or even an unknown person that has an account at the bank. It blows my mind that those from Hawaii said they are arrested first, questioned later. The ocean between us makes a huge difference evidently. Normal protocol calls for confiscating the notes immediately without reimbursement, recording the date and time the bills were taken by the bank. The bank will never take the loss. It is your fault for taking the bill. They won't let you keep it, because that's illegal. The information from the customers identification and where they claim to have received the fakes from is also recorded. This report is sent with the notes to the FBI. The local police are never informed by the teller. The customer is then contacted by an agent, some times many days later, and depending on the circumstances, they may never even see an agent personally. Of course the amount of the counterfeit makes a big difference on how hard they pursue it, and if it matches others from the same area or time period. I have caught several fakes over the years so I am speaking from experience.

[James Manford]

Yay, someone with experience! thanks for the input Byron ... sums up my thoughts as well that the guy who apparently deals in cash only acquired it from something he must of sold himself on a cash only basis! I wasn't buying his story either.

[Nigel Barker]

There are differences between our continents.

Our UK & Euro currency has pretty sophisticated anti-counterfeiting measures with raised print and high quality paper, watermarks, holograms and fluorescent inks.

BTW while there might be tax advantages in being paid cash the possibility of being given a large sum in fake notes has always put me off accepting payment this way.

[Peter Rush]

Originally Posted by James Manford

No way would a cash point issue fake bills, and no way would the bank put it back in to circulation.

I just can't believe that.

Google it james - many many people are reporting atm dispensing fake notes and there are cases of the banks making good. In my experience here i was banking several cheques and one cash deposit of nearly £700 (from one wedding/client) it was in this bundle that the 3 fake notes were discovered. It's rare a client wants to pay in cash and in future i'll insist on bacs or cheque!