Technology has helped address some of the issues associated with Cash Desk Fraud. Debit cards have eliminated the exposure to losses associated with personal check payments. Most retailers just don’t accept checks anymore. Also, on-line links to bank centers has reduced some of the liabilities associated with credit card transactions although not all of them.
In the olden days, making counterfeit cash good enough to pass for the real thing was only within the realm of printing experts with special talents and equipment. Today, our color photocopiers are so sophisticated and at such a high level of resolution, that anyone that can push a button can produce somewhat passable currency. When you combine this with a lack of training and experience at the cash desk, we experience epidemic levels of counterfeit currency potentially on a daily basis.
Traditionally, since counterfeit currency took so much skill and time to make, the counterfeiter would balance maximum return with minimal risk of scrutiny and hence the $20 bill was the favorite denomination. Push button technology makes production of bills so easy that in Canada $5 and $10 bills are also popular denominations now. Moreover, most cashiers won’t even look twice at a $5 bill any more. In the USA, even $1 bills are produced en masse and flooded onto the market. Recently in Canada, the $20 bill has regained its popularity as the denomination of choice. This year, as well as in 2006, the $20 was the bill most seized as counterfeit by banks and police once again.
Although photocopy technology is indeed impressive, it’s not perfect. A little vigilance by your cashiers will catch the majority of bad bills being passed. Before discussing what to look for and how to handle bank notes to reduce counterfeit losses, cashiers should be trained to look at the behavior of people at cash. Often how they act is a message that an attempt to pass bad bills is in the works. Here are several behaviors that cashiers should look for:
· Customers who appear to be in a real rush to get through the transaction even when it is a high ticket item
· Abnormally low interest in the actual product, perhaps even indifferent to its size in the case of clothing
· Fails to make eye contact with the cashier, frequently glances at the exit
· Passes an abnormally large number of low denomination banknotes, i.e. twenty $5 bills for a $100 purchase
The behavior of a customer may or may not arouse the suspicion of a cashier but it often will, if you train them to look out for these signs.
Cashiers should regularly follow these practices to minimize the risk of counterfeit fraud:
· Examine bills under counterfeit test lights. Fake bills are usually made of cellulose based paper and will glow under the light. Real money is made with rag based paper and will not fluoresce.
· Examine the bills for repeating serial numbers. Some counterfeiters are too lazy to copy multiple bills and therefore create unique bills. Most cashiers fail to look at the serial numbers and they know it.
· Look at the detailing of the bills and the hologram if it has one. These will be of poor quality on fake bills and the resolution will be lower.
· The government collects and destroys bills that are usually older than a year, and reissues fresh ones. Abnormally worn out bills may be an indication that a bill has been artificially “worn out” in order to make detection of its inferior quality difficult. This is usually done with a clothes dryer.
If a cashier does find a counterfeit bill, do not accuse the customer of passing the bill. However, ask them to keep the suspect bills and call the police. If the customer is an innocent victim, they should have no hesitation to stay in the store until the police arrive. If they are seasoned counterfeiters, they’ll likely bolt for the door. In a case where a customer sincerely needs to go, such as to pick up a child from daycare, get the customer’s name and identification and pass it on to the police. They can question the person later on as their investigation evolves.
Your best approach to reducing the counterfeit epidemic in your stores is to train your cashiers to look for customer behavior and aspects of the cash they present to them that may infer counterfeit fraud.
TAKE ACTION TODAY:
Make all store staff aware how rampant cash fraud has become due to new technology. Train staff on recognizing abnormal behavior and features of real versus counterfeit bills. Broadcast occurrences of attempted and actual cash fraud to the entire chain and keep improving their awareness and skills with cash desk fraud. Consider rewards for those that successfully thwart a potential cash desk transaction involving counterfeit bills, even when the customer is also an honest victim.
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