Counterfeit Investigations (2024)

FAQs

Does Secret Service investigate counterfeit money? ›

Our Investigative Mission. The U.S. Secret Service has a long and storied history of safeguarding America's financial and payment systems from criminal exploitation. The agency was created in 1865 to combat the rise of counterfeit currency following the Civil War.

Contact your local police department or United States Secret Service field office. These numbers can be found on the inside front page of your local telephone directory. Write your initials and the date in the white border areas of the suspect note. Limit the handling of the note.

It's reassuring to know that all banks have a set of security measures in place to detect and confiscate fake money.

Avoidance

Avoidance involves working exclusively with trustworthy sources and avoiding those that cannot provide relevant information or quality assurance. It's the most cost-effective strategy to minimize counterfeit parts, as it involves research and internal quality control measures.

Yes, you can actually be arrested for using counterfeit money, even if you didn't know it was fake. Both the federal government and local state governments impose penalties on an individual for using or attempting to use counterfeit money.

Whether your bank will swap out a bogus bill for a genuine one is up to its discretion.

Both the Federal government and local State governments can impose penalties on an individual for using or attempting to use counterfeit money. Under Federal law, if a prosecutor can prove the intent to commit fraud or forgery, an individual can be sentenced up to 20 years of incarceration on top of a hefty fine.

If they find out you tried to deposit fake notes willingly, you will face legal actions and can even be jailed. If you know you have fake banknotes on your hands, please, do not try putting them in an ATM – this is a penal action with serious legal consequences in some countries.

The $20 bill is the most commonly counterfeited banknote in the U.S., while overseas counterfeiters are more likely to make fake $100 bills. The real $100 bills are more prevalent overseas as well, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

Report suspected counterfeit currency to your local authorities. Law enforcement agencies, banks and cash processors will submit suspected counterfeit currency to the Secret Service through our USDollars website.

What to do if I was given fake money? ›

If You Receive a Counterfeit

If you ever doubt the authenticity of a note you receive, contact your local U.S. Secret Service field office (Off-site).

So if you unwittingly hand a cashier a counterfeit bill, the cashier might call the police. The police could likely arrest you even if you deny knowing the cash was counterfeit. The issue of knowledge and intent might not come up until later, such as during plea negotiations or trial, if charges move forward.

Traditionally, counterfeits are made by offset printing. Counterfeiters need to acquire heavy machinery in order to undertake offset printing; the right kind of ink is also needed as well as expert production of printing plates.

When you identify a counterfeit or potentially damaging listing, act immediately to enforce your trade marks, design rights and copyright and force the offending online marketplaces to remove the fraudulent listings.

Examine the serial numbers.

Make sure that the serial numbers on a bill match, and look at them carefully. Fake bills may have serial numbers that are not evenly spaced or that are not perfectly aligned in a row. If you received multiple suspicious bills, see if the serial numbers are the same on both bills.

Intellectual Property Theft/Piracy

The FBI's intellectual property investigations focus on the theft of trade secrets and copyright infringement on products that can impact people's health and safety, like counterfeit parts for cars and electronics.

In the USA, however, fake banknotes will be removed from your account. You will have to get in contact with the police and explain how and where you got this counterfeit money. If they find out you tried to deposit fake notes willingly, you will face legal actions and can even be jailed.

Yes. The scanner that checks the value of the bill note does that.