Feb 25, 2004
Chris Traber - More from this author

There's a good chance, as an Ontarian, you've unwittingly handled counterfeit currency.

Our province, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, accounts for almost half the counterfeit bank notes passed or seized in Canada. The RCMP warns funny money is a growing concern with the number of captured fake bills increasing 39 per cent last year.

Surprisingly, the estimated real value of counterfeit bills has actually gone down, from approximately $6 million in 2001 to $4.8 million in 2002. The main reason is counterfeiters are focused on lower currency denominations, such as $5 and $10 bills after a flood of phony $50 and $100 notes dampened their acceptance at most retailers.

The Bank of Canada, our nation's note-issuing authority, has put $41.1 billion worth of paper currency in circulation and to defend against a proliferation of imitation bills, our central bank initiates sophisticated security measures in the manufacture of money.

Regrettably, the bad guys also avail themselves of high-end reproduction technology that creates cloned cash able to deceive detection devices and the most seasoned eye and hand.

Until recently, chemical pens, black lights and smudge tests were the sole measure against bogus bills at the payment counter. But, there's new counterfeit detection science so vigilant and thorough that not a single flawed note has defeated it.

Available from Woodbridge-based Vision Currency Technologies, the innocuous looking scanner is already in use by a growing constituency of police forces, casinos, racetracks, banks, restaurants and retailers.

Barry Kruger, Vision's vice-president of sales and marketing, plugs in the coffee maker sized machine and dumps a sizeable selection of currency in varied denominations from different countries.

"Looks and feels real," he said, displaying a worn Canadian $50 bill complete with the gold security foil. "If you rub it against white paper, the colour smears like it should and a regular black light exposes the watermark planchettes to suggest it's genuine."

Mr. Kruger places the bill on the machine tray. The scanner's miniature television system projects an outline of a bill on the screen.

"Counterfeit," he said. "The real thing would display or hide certain security features such as serial numbers or hidden images."

By sliding real and fraudulent bills of the same denomination under the unblinking eye of the scanner, Mr. Kruger demonstrates how his technology is immune to forgeries.

He explained each bill from a legitimate treasury displays only certain security features whether it's an item of clothing, serial numbers, blank areas or images unseen by the naked eye.

Each note is designed and equipped with its own unique security features.

Issuing banks worldwide also use fiercely guarded inks, including magnet dyes and metameric compounds that are invisible to white light but reveal exceedingly detailed images under a red filter. Vision's scanner quickly, effectively and visually reveals or in certain cases, hides features built into legal tender.

Users are supplied with a corresponding booklet in which genuine currencies from around the globe are featured as they appear to the casual observer and how the Vision scanner should interpret it on screen. With experience, a cashier can identify the legitimacy of a note immediately.

As an exclusive importer, distributor and licensee of the Korean-made scanner, Vision Currency Technologies has placed some 3,000 scanners in businesses provincewide.

"With national sales, we anticipate those figures will triple within 12 months," Mr. Kruger said.

He is reluctant to detail the $595 scanner's proprietary technology, saying only that patented microcircuitry television, ultra violet lighting and special hardware is involved.

"It's best to stay one step ahead of the counterfeiters," he said.

Skeptics and counterfeiters don't stand much of chance with the Vision scanner.

RCMP Sgt. Moshe Gordon, counterfeit co-ordinator, criminal operations, suggests he has never seen anything similar.

"It's the most reliable and intimidating scanner to date," he said. "Nothing is foolproof, but this machine hasn't missed yet."

Law enforcement departments, including York Regional Police and Ontario Provincial Police detachments employ the scanner to verify seized bills. The cash processing centres of the Royal Bank of Canada, Scotia Bank and CIBC have the unit, as do cash-intensive enterprises such as Cineplex Odeon Theatres, Tim Hortons, Canadian Tire and Hilton Hotels.

It's a timely advent as counterfeiting, in varied refinement, escalates.

Mr. Kruger explained brazen teenagers with basic home scanners in British Columbia were caught selling four printed $10 bills for a real one. Another criminal in Hamilton was snagged with millions in fake bills ready to be circulated.

"This guy had about $300,000 of the counterfeit bills in the garbage. They were passable, but that's how discriminating criminals have become."

As counterfeiters' products become more advanced, so do distribution processes. They seek out stores that are busy and used to cash transactions. Drive-through restaurants are popular because if exposed, the perpetrators speed off.

If you detect a counterfeit note, retain it if possible, record its details, contact the nearest police force or RCMP for confirmation and provide them with any information, description or identification about the person who gave you the note.

"Do not try and apprehend or get into a physical confrontation with a person who you suspect as passing a bad bill," Mr. Kruger said. "It's not worth getting hurt or worse over a worthless piece of paper."

Like all central banks, the Bank of Canada does not reimburse counterfeit notes because it could encourage falsification of notes for the purpose of receiving reimbursement. It would be difficult for the bank to differentiate between an innocent recipient and one who is trying to defraud the bank.

For more information, contact Vision Currency Technologies at 905-265-7533 or www.visioncurrencytech.com. The Bank of Canada bank note compliance department can be reached at 1-888-513-8212 or www.bankofcanada.ca