Counterfeit currency

[OlongJohnson]

I've seen counterfeit coins from time to time, but today I was passed a $1 bill in my change at a Wendy's. It looked maybe a little wet or something when I got it, but when the bill taker at self-checkout in the grocery store wouldn't take it, I looked closer, and it's obviously fake. Not even a good fake. Bad Chinesium level fake.

Is there any agency investigating this stuff that would care about it for the purposes of tracking the spread? Or is one bill useless for such things?

Should I shred it, put it with my collection of apparently counterfeit coins?

[Joe in PNG]

This summer, we picked up a phony $100 on the sidewalk in front of our favorite pizza place.
Turns out it was just a color photocopy. We just tore it up and dumped it.

[blues]

You can contact the local Secret Service office if there is one in your area. When I still came across South American counterfeit back in the early 2000's, I'd meet up with agents I knew at Secret Service to provide them with access to the evidence.

If they aren't interested, you're not out anything, and at least you made an effort. I'd just give them a call.

[TGS]

Is there any agency investigating this stuff that would care about it for the purposes of tracking the spread? Or is one bill useless for such things?

Should I shred it, put it with my collection of apparently counterfeit coins?

I just asked a USSS colleague I'm on shift with during our annual retreat to NYC, and he said to give it to a bank or local PD who will then report it at usdollars.usss.gov for the sake of cataloging it. If it's a new type they will reach out to retrieve it for examination, otherwise they'll ignore it.

[0ddl0t]

I wouldn't think counterfeiting $1 bills is lucrative?

[Caballoflaco]

I wouldn't think counterfeiting $1 bills is lucrative?

Somebody’s ripping off the strippers!!!

[5pins]

I wouldn't think counterfeiting $1 bills is lucrative?

Maybe if you work at a Wendy's drive through and have a color copier. Hand the customer a fake $1 bill and keep the real one for yourself.

[Darth_Uno]

Found out I had a fake $20 when the gas station wouldn't take it. I took it back to the bank and they said, "Where'd you get this?" "From you, yesterday!" They said someone might contact me but nobody ever did.

[Stephanie B]

Mr. 880 counterfeited $1 bills in the '30s and '40s. There's a long article about the case in "Reporting at Wit's End".

[UncleGabby]

When I was the manager of an OTB we would get counterfeit fives every now and then. Our security were off duty police, and they would usually go through the formality of talking to the customer who passed it, if we even knew who did it. The officers told me it was mostly pointless, as the person passing it, if they were knowingly passing it, would typically not have any more on them and would be working with someone else who was holding.

I think the bills were fives because they figured no one would check or notice, because we dealt in very high volumes of cash. The customers all ran up to bet in the last minute before a race started, and there was a flurry of bills changing hands. But because the tellers had thousands of bills pass through their hands every day, they would pick up on the fact that a counterfeit didn’t feel right in a fraction of a second. Since we were good at catching the bills, people only tried to pass them on us maybe a few times a year.