Avoid Counterfeit Fraud With b2b.ie

There are thousands of counterfeit euro bank notes withdrawn from circulation in Ireland every year with the €50 note being the most counterfeit note. Although the number of fake notes in circulation is low considering the estimated 11.5 billion legal banknotes that are in existence, it is still a major problem to a lot of business today.

How to avoid getting caught out.

The first step and possibly the most important is to ensure your staff is well aware of how to examine notes and that there is a policy for staff to follow after the discovery of a fake - including retention of the note and contacting police with a description of the person passing the suspect banknote. The Central Bank has reminded consumers that genuine notes always have a watermark, so this should be the first thing to check for. In addition, lower denomination notes include a hologram which appears on the foil stripe on the front of the banknote. On the higher value notes a hologram is included on the foil patch on the front of the banknote. A lot of business will display signs declaring “Counterfeit currency checks will be carried out” as a deterrent against fraud.

If you find that staff are not carrying out these checks on notes that are taken in there are easier ways to check for counterfeit. The cheapest and the easiest is to have a money checker pen kept beside the till. A money checker pen tells you weather banknotes are printed on legitimate paper by leaving a glaring violet mark on forgeries. If you can afford to spend a little more, UV counterfeit Decetors can be placed by a till. These UV lamps verifie watermarks, microprint and metal thread, and can be a more discreet way of checking money in front of a customer. They are available from as little as €39.99 from www.b2b.ie