“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned to buy things they don’t want to impress people they don’t like.” –Will Rogers
Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) director, Police Colonel Martin E. Defensor, Jr., recently appealed for local residents to be wary of counterfeit money during the holiday season. The issue of “fake money” is a problem anytime and anywhere, and anybody can become a victim.
Sean Trundy, who runs the FraudFighter Blog, offers guidance on how to spot fake money.
Anywhere in the world today, creating counterfeit money is becoming easier and easier; making it more accessible.
The most common counterfeit denominations are 20s and 100s.
Trundy said the majority of counterfeit bills in circulation can be spotted if one knows what to look for. He provides an explanation on US dollars: “There’s the color shifting Ink. Modern bills are imprinted with overt (or visible) security features that help identify counterfeit money. The most prominent is reportedly the color-shifting ink used on bills produced after 2006.”
He suggests, in order to identify color-shifting ink, one must look at the lower-right hand corner of the bill’s face, primarily, the printed numeral, and tilt the bill back and forth. Depending on the angle, the color should shift from grey to green and back again.
“This is the first step in identifying fake money,” he said. “Color shifting ink is very difficult to replicate and usually cannot be done on a laser printer.”
He also discusses intaglio printing, which is a type of printing using intricately carved plates and extremely heavy printing presses to “imprint” the currency.  Imprinting means to physically alter the surface of the paper the money is printed on. This creates a distinctive raised, or ruff, feeling to the currency.
For example, the image of Benjamin Franklin on the $100 dollar bill features a very fine detail along his eye and face as well as around the oval surrounding his face, all of which are nearly impossible for a laser printer to replicate.
“Of course, that is a good spot to rub your finger or thumb along the bill to feel the ‘raised ridges’ that result from intaglio printing,” Trundy said.

Be wary of the counterfeit pen sold to store owners
There is a pen that purports to determine the type of paper used to create the fake money.
In the US, currency is printed on cotton-based paper while paper typically milled for copiers and laser printers are made from wood pulp. The counterfeit pen is reportedly filled with iodine, which is supposed to react with wood pulp and turn from brown to black—if the pen does not turn brown the paper is made of cotton. This pen only reveals if the paper is not made from wood pulp but it will not indicate anything if the fake money is printed on non-wood pulp paper.

Watermarks
Modern US currency reportedly contains a watermark security feature.
By holding the bill up to the light, one should be able to see a watermark next to the portrait of the president on the bill.
Trundy says to look for a woven thread running from the top to the bottom of the bill as this thread is not printed “onto” the paper but is woven into and part of the underlying paper the bill is printed on.
He added, this is very difficult for counterfeiters to replicate.

***
Alex P. Vidal, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo./WDJ