Counterfeit money is no stranger to many of us. As a business owner, it pays to be on the lookout for fake bills as they eat into your business profits. When a customer buys goods with fake bills, you lose the face value of the money and the value of the goods purchased. And in case a customer ends up with counterfeit money from your business, it negatively affects your reputation.
Thankfully, there are decisive measures you can take to deal with the problem of counterfeit money in your business. Top among them is the use of a fake banknote checker. As a retailer, you should also teach your employees the security features to look out for detecting fake bills. You should also make it apparent to counterfeiters that you check for fake money to deter them from using fake bills in your business.
Let’s look at each of these measures in detail.
1. Use an Anti-Counterfeit Bill Checker
Forgers have become extremely innovative, and with the emergence of new technologies, they can now produce fake notes that are harder to tell apart from the real ones. This is why businesses need to embrace fake bill detectors plus other equipment that can quickly tell fake and genuine bills apart.
Unlike the naked eye, a fake banknote checker will detect invisible security features to authenticate the genuineness of the notes. Besides, anti-money counterfeiting machines are faster and not prone to error. This makes them the best method to use in businesses that deal with large amounts of money or those with many customers.
Small businesses can also benefit from anti-counterfeit bill checkers as they reduce the cost of employing extra employees to determine the genuineness of banknotes.
Some of the counterfeit detection machines that businesses can use include:
· Fake bank-note checkers
· Magnetic ink detectors
· Machine-readable character machines
· UV lights machines
· Counterfeit detection pens
· Infra-red viewers
2. Train Your Workers how to Check For Fake Money
As a business owner, you should train your employees how to examine every bill that goes through their hands. Ensure they examine even the coins and small notes. Also, they shouldn’t profile customers by assuming that a customer can’t use fake notes based on looks.
Because of the nature of small businesses where employees are tasked with handling multiple tasks, they are the most susceptible to losing money from counterfeiters. Thus, it’s essential as a business owner to hire additional staff or assign a few individuals the specific responsibility of checking for counterfeit money.
Some of the security features employees should be taught to examine on bills include:
Watermark – The watermark is a security feature found on genuine bills. Teach your staff to check for the watermark by holding the bill to the light. The watermark should also match the face on the bill and be on the right side of the note.
The serial number – The first letter on a bill serial number ought to match a specific year. In this case, the employee should check if this first letter matches the year on the bill. For instance, E should correspond to the year 2004, G to 2004A, I to 2006, J to 2009, and L to 2009A. You should also check if the same serial number is replicated on several bills, as two bills should never have the same serial number.
The portrait – There should be a clear distinction between the portrait and the bill’s background. Since it’s hard to make the portrait stand out from the background with standard printers, you’ll usually find that there is a blurred contrast between the two in fake bills.
Check the hairlines – Genuine notes are made with a unique material that allows them to have a few sharp and small hair-like lines. Since counterfeiters do not have access to this material, they will try to replicate these hairlines, but when checked carefully, the lines look unnatural and blurred.
Color shifting print – All bills printed in 1996 going forward have color-shifting ink on their bottom right-hand side. This ink that shifts from green to black can be observed by holding the bill and tilting it back and forth. If a bill doesn’t have this security feature, it’s probably a fake.
Micro-printing in the security thread – The security thread is another security feature found in authentic notes. You can find it on the left of the portrait in the $5, $20, and the $100 notes. On the $10 and $50 notes, it’s found on the right. The security thread also has an ultraviolet glow. For instance, when a $5 bill is put under ultraviolet light, it will glow blue, $100 will glow red or pink, the $50 bill will glow yellow. The security thread also has micro-printing as an added security feature. Check for micro-printed phrases such as USA FIVE in the $5 bill, USA TEN in the $10 bill, USA 50 in the $50 bill, and so on.
Raised printing – By running your finger on an authentic note, you can detect the raised printing. If you run your finger on the note and cannot feel a vibration on your nail from the raised printing ridges, then you should check the bill more carefully.
Compare – If you’re still unsure of the genuineness of a bill, you can compare it with a few other genuine ones. Feeling the texture and looking at both bills can help you find any existing differences.
3. Let Customers Know Your Check for Counterfeits
Make it apparent to everyone that you check for fake bills. This is a deterrence measure you can use to discourage counterfeiters from paying with counterfeit notes.
For instance, you can put up a notice letting customers know you use a fake bill detection machine. Your employees can also check the bills even when customers are watching. This way, counterfeiters will think twice before using fake notes in your store. In closing, knowing how to detect fake bills is advantageous to your business. Remember, if you get a counterfeit bill from a customer, don’t return it to them. Confiscate it and call the police as they can help trace the bill to the original counterfeiter.