New high-tech bills have cut instances of counterfeiting, police say
Frank Luba
Province
Police say counterfeiting is in decline but that’s little consolation for three East Vancouver residents who were given bogus $20 bills at a weekend garage sale.
Sgt. Mary Kostashuk, the RCMP’s Pacific Region counterfeit co-ordinator, said yesterday that the number of counterfeit notes per million bills in Canada has dropped from 670 in 2005 to around 57 currently.
“It’s declining and it’s declined significantly over the last three to four years,” said Kostashuk.
But it’s not gone, even with the multiple holograms and watermarks introduced to Canadian currency in 2004.
The East Vancouver victims were taking part in a multi-family sale on Saturday and each received a bill from the old “Birds of Canada” series.
One neighbour was suspicious and checked to see if others had been passed one of the bills, which has a holographic square in the top left quarter on the front and a loon on the back.
A second woman found that she also had been given a fake bill. She saw the holographic square was worn. Even more importantly, the square didn’t turn from gold to green like a proper holograph.
The third bill turned up later.
The fake $20 bills are realistic, except for the gold security patch which is worn and easy to scratch.
Vancouver police. Const. Jana McGuinness, the department’s spokeswoman, said the commercial crimes section hasn’t detected a trend of bogus bills at garage sales.
In Vancouver, the number of fake bills in the past few years peaked in 2005 with 4,333 found. The number declined to 1,045 in 2006 and 172 last year.
Modern counterfeiters have access to computers, scanners and laser printers but they’re finding it tougher to make good copies of the new bills, said Kostashuk.
There’s another wrinkle to making funny money, she said. Penalties for counterfeiting are tough.
“It’s passed through the [criminal] community that there are other crimes you can commit with less of a penalty,” she said.
Kotashuk said she knows of one instance where one offender received 27 months in jail for just possessing bogus bills.
Identifying bad bills
There are simple ways to find out if Canadian currency is counterfeit or genuine.
New Canadian Journey series:
– The silver holographic strips should shift through various colours when the bill is tilted.
– Each maple leaf in the strip should split into two colours when tilted.
– A watermark portrait should appear in the centre of the note when it is held up to the light.
– A see-through number should appear to the right of the watermark portrait and it should be perfectly aligned when the note is held up to the light.
Older Birds of Canada series:
– Equipped with a holograph in top left-hand corner that turns from green to gold if tipped.
Source: RCMP
© The Vancouver Province 2008
