How to Spot Counterfeit Money

You may be able to spot counterfeit money if you:

Compare it to one that you know is real
Feel the bill for raised ink
Look for tiny red and blue fibers
Look for the watermark

Comparison

The human mind often sees both negatives and positives by comparison. Therefore, if you suspect that you have been given a fake bill, compare it to one that you know is real. If there are striking differences, you can take a good guess that the one you have been giving is probably a fake. Of course, sometimes bills can get dirty or ripped; therefore, you should probably use the rest of the techniques as well in order to truly determine the authenticity of the bill.

Feel the Money

Although, as we aforementioned, people are getting better at reproducing the likeness of true money, feeling the bill can give you some sense of whether it is a real or a fake. The type of paper that the real money is printed on is not sold commercially; therefore, even if a regular bill comes close, it could never truly feel the way that a real one does. Most people who handle money for a living or on an otherwise regular basis are able to distinguish these differences immediately.

Real money also has slightly raised ink that you should be able to feel. If the bill happens to state that it is new, you really, absolutely should be able to feel this raised ink.

Printing Quality

The United States Mint puts a lot of work into ensuring that all real bills have a great amount of detail to them. If you have a real and fake bill to compare, you will immediately see that the fake has significantly less detail than the real one. The picture on fakes will appear both dull and blurry.

Furthermore, real bills have tiny red and blue fibers that are actually part of the paper. When studying a fake bill closely, you will be able to determine that the red and blue are actually drawn on as opposed to being an actual part of the paper.

Watermarks

Have you ever seen a cashier or bartender hold the bill up to a light when you give it him or her? That is because he or she is looking for the watermark. Acquaint yourself with the watermark for different bills and learn what it is supposed to look like, as opposed to what counterfeiters attempt to make it look like. You should be aware that counterfeiters often produce large quantities of smaller bills, since they know that people often only tend to look for the watermark on larger bills. People often tend to be more suspicious of larger bills in general.

Do your Research

You will only truly be comfortable handling potentially fake money if you take the extra step to do your research and learn what it is all about. Take to an expert-or your boss-about the different types of counterfeit money and what the bills look like. By doing so, you will already be familiar with what a counterfeit bill looks like and not have to figure it out for the first time after you have been scammed!