No one is happy when they discover that they have accepted counterfeit money. It’s inconvenient for the victim, problematic for their bank, and a long and taxing process for the Secret Service authorities who have to investigate the matter. There are ways you can protect yourself from being duped. For example, check to see if the watermark prints are there when held under a bright light. Another way is to obtain a counterfeit money detector, which can save you or your company some time.
Best Types of Counterfeit Money Detectors
The quickest way to make sure money isn’t counterfeit is to check the watermark prints. However, other approaches include checking the magnetic fields, the security strip with a UV light, testing the ink, and scanning the microprint. Many products on the market utilize one of these tests or will combine up to four methods.
UV Light and Watermark Checkers
Devices that apply UV light and white light to identify a counterfeit bill tend to be the most versatile and the least expensive. Holding a UV light up to the security strip on a bill will quickly show if it is genuine or fake. The AccuBanker LED420 allows you to place a bill inside, where it shines both white and UV lights to detect its authenticity.
There are similar methods using a pen loaded with color-changing ink and a UV light. If the ink remains yellow when marked onto the bill, then it is a real bill. If it turns blue or black, this means that it is definitely counterfeit. These pens are an inexpensive of option and tend to be around the ten dollar range.
Magnetic Field Checkers
Tangkula is highly accurate, with a 99.9% detection rate. This scanner uses a magnetic field checker, UV light, multi-spectrum detection, and infrared thermal scanning. The infrared (IR) thermal scanning can check for any strange imprints a bill may have. All bills have some IR marks on them to help distinguish them from counterfeit money.
Additionally, its multi-spectrum detection allows you to test for the spectral bands of visible and nonvisible wavelengths that don’t match up with a genuine bill. This device has to be plugged in, which means it’s better for a store location.
The B$Sure Portable Counterfeit Bill Detector claims to have 100% accuracy and scans a bill over its surface to detect any abnormalities in the bill. Because it is battery charged, it can be taken anywhere. The AccuBanker LED420 is also a device that combines a variety of approaches, which includes UV and white light detection, in addition to the magnetic field and micro-print detection.
Ink Sensors
Another interesting approach is a flash test device. Passing a dollar bill across a DriMark flash test sensor allows the ink sensor to check if the bill is legitimate. It also has a UV security stripe and watermark detector built-in. This detects if a counterfeiter is using the “bleaching” technique of removing all ink off a lower denomination banknote, and reprinting it with a higher value. The DriMark flash sensor is incredibly quick and flashes green or red depending upon whether the bill is counterfeit or real.
Stay Vigilant With Your Legal Tender
Choose the device that applies 4 or methods, for peace of mind. You can learn more here about how to identify real bills from counterfeit ones. This will prevent you from being connived out of the real value you deserve from the money you receive.
