Posted on: Tuesday, June 4, 2002

In counterfeiting, it's amateur hour

By James Bickers
Gannett News Service

For years, the stereotypical picture of a counterfeiter has been the one put forth by Hollywood: a recluse in a shuttered house, huddled over meticulously engraved printing plates and hanging freshly printed sheets of cash from a clothesline to dry.

Although this may have been accurate in the past, the counterfeiter of today is more likely to be hunched over a computer keyboard, tweaking a color scanner or calibrating an inkjet printer.

The proliferation of affordable computers, scanners and printers has drastically changed the world of counterfeiting.

According to Jim Mackin, agent and spokesman for the Secret Service, the percentage of counterfeit money made by digital means (as opposed to traditional printing) rose from one-half of 1 percent in 1995 to a whopping 47 percent in 2000.

"With what we call a 'p-note,' which comes off a computer or an inkjet-generated process, you no longer have to have the skill set to carry out the crime," he said. "So we did see a rise."

Mackin said that $12.6 million in counterfeit money was seized in 2001, of which 42 percent was produced digitally.

"It's a fairly common problem," said Michael G. Kessler, president of the forensic accounting and investigative consulting firm Kessler International. "Any person can basically see the problem when they go to a gas station, and nobody will take $20 or $100 bills anymore."

A changing demographic

According to Kessler, counterfeiting still takes place in typically shadowy realms — organized crime, for instance, or terrorist organizations. But he has seen a dramatic increase in counterfeiting among college students as well.

"That's one where you'd never expect it," he said. "They're doing it right on the college campuses." He estimates that while some students are scanning and printing money to make ends meet, just as many are doing it for the thrill.

According to Mackin, one of the front lines in the battle against fake money is educating the public.

He advises consumers and merchants to become more attentive to detail when accepting cash and suggests comparing questionable bills with ones they know are legitimate.

Proof in the paper

Kessler said that although the quality of digitally forged money can be very high, there is one major sticking point: the paper. "I've seen some really good stuff that's very difficult to tell apart from the real McCoy if it wasn't for the paper," he said.

U.S. currency is printed on blank stock made from 100 percent rag content, which is very expensive. In addition, currency paper has a major security feature built-in: synthetic red and blue fibers are mixed into the paper while it is still in pulp form, before it is pressed into sheets. Paper mills are prohibited by law from manufacturing other paper containing these fibers.

The penalties for counterfeiting always have been stiff, but they recently got stiffer: According to Mackin, the Patriot Act of 2001 raised the 10-to-15-year minimum sentence to 20 years.

And arrests are on the rise: 5,241 counterfeiters were nabbed in 2001, up from 3,467 the year before.

"Even though there are more people counterfeiting, we are arresting more people, too," the agent said.