LYNN — It was a few weeks ago when a Lynn man showed up at his local bank to deposit some money, when he was informed that some of the money was counterfeit, and could not be accepted.
The man, who initially reported the incident to The Item, has not spoken on the record about what happened. He was frustrated, however, to learn that his money could not be replaced, even if he did not realize it was counterfeit, and in a sense he “lost money.” Indeed, that is the case.
According to David Surface, CEO at St. Jean’s Credit Union, when someone walks into a bank or credit union with phony money, the institution will not replace it.
“I hate to see someone go through that,” Surface said. “In the case that someone brings in a counterfeit bill, we can’t replace it for them.”
But, if things happen the other way around — if the credit union inadvertently hands over a fake bill that’s somehow been mixed up with the real money — St. Jean’s will replace it, Surface said.
“If we are at the counter and we realize we have a counterfeit, we will replace it for them,” Surface said. “We eat the cost when that happens.”
Surface said someone bringing counterfeit money to the credit union is “not really common” in relative terms, but that there seems to be “a lot right now.” He did not wish to explain the many “safeguards” there are to prevent the exchange of counterfeit money, and said he wished to keep such things lesser-known for would-be criminals. There is, of course, the somewhat-known method of using an iodine-based counterfeit-detection marker on a note, that will usually leave a gold streak on a real note, and a dark streak on a fake one.
However, if someone does bring in a counterfeit note to St. Jean’s, it is required that the note be collected and turned in to authorities.
“We do have to send them to the Secret Service,” he said.
The U.S. Secret Service is the institution responsible for combating counterfeit money. In fact, the organization’s original purpose was to combat counterfeiting, rather than the perhaps better-known purpose of protecting the U.S. president.
The Secret Service collects and inventories counterfeit bills it receives from banks, law enforcement agencies, and fraud investigators, and those groups may initiate the process of turning in fake money by filling out a report available at www.usdollars.usss.gov. The agency has more than 150 offices throughout the U.S. and abroad, and counterfeit notes may also be reported to the Boston field office at (617) 565-5640.
The Secret Service also has a graph on its website, www.secretservice.gov, explaining how to tell the difference between real and counterfeit money, explaining where to look for spaces, letter and number positions, color, and other aspects of a note to determine if it may be counterfeit.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury also has released guidelines for people who suspect they may have received a counterfeit note. According to a statement from the department, such suspicions should be reported immediately to the Secret Service or local police department. Workers who may have received a counterfeit note from someone else should not return the note to the passer, should delay the passer if possible by making an excuse, take down physical and vehicle descriptions if possible, write their initials and date in the white border area of the suspected counterfeit note, not handle the note and place it in a protective cover, plastic bag, or envelope, and surrender the bill only to a properly identified police officer, Secret Service Agent, or mail it to the nearest Secret Service field office.
