Counterfeit Detection Systems

Westminster are able to call on over 50 years experience in fraud and counterfeit detection systems involving ex Interpol Officers and with consultancy enquiries recently received from the Bank of England and the National Office for the Suppression of Counterfeit Currency as well as associates within the Commercial Sector.

There are no simple off the shelf devices that are able to detect counterfeit currency with absolute certainty although some come close enough to be considered for practical use and give a fairly reasonable indication as to the genuineness of banknotes. Such a device is indicated towards the end of this report and will be used to best advantage in conjunction with training by experts and a review of banking policies.

Detection is often limited to the degree of sophistication of the security and protective measures taken in the production of genuine currency notes. Many of these features include:- magnetic inks, watermarks, metallic strips, holograms, elaborate designs which cannot easily be copied, printing styles such as "intaglio" and so on.

Counterfeiting

One of the major defences against counterfeiting is the quality and type of paper used to manufacture the notes. The vast majority of security printing paper is manufactured and supplied by only a few companies throughout the world. Most countries in the course of printing their currencies use these specialised papers. The papers are also not easy to obtain outside of the industry and are expensive.

They are known in most cases as "UV Black" an expression used to indicate that they do not fluoresce or glow brightly when in ultraviolet light, but show a rather flat and dull colour, this is in contrast to normal papers, which react in the opposite way. The "UV Black" papers therefore enable the addition of ultraviolet printing to the notes, which is normally invisible to the naked eye but is readily identified when bathed in ultraviolet light. Almost without exception all countries use ultraviolet sensitive features in one form or another.

Such printing has two advantages:- Firstly, the criminals may not even be aware of the printing that should be present under ultraviolet light. Secondly, this type of printing is extremely expensive for criminals to use and is rarely adopted in counterfeits.

Currency notes

Currency notes that are less sophisticated may not include hidden or invisible printing but are protected, albeit to a lesser degree, by the type of paper used. Papers are made up of many materials and the cheaper security papers often include "rag fibres" which are sensitive to ultraviolet light and glow brightly under ultraviolet light. The absence of this is often indicative of a counterfeit note.

It has to be understood that the simple check carried out as described below is about all that can reasonably be done at the time of any transaction or normal procedure. A full examination to determine beyond doubt if a note is counterfeit is a complicated and lengthy process that cannot be adopted at a bank counter.

It is therefore important to understand what features should be immediately present when using a detection device that utilises ultraviolet light both in regard to banknotes of the country concerned and other countries with regard to currency exchange procedures. It is a common practice amongst criminals to introduce counterfeit foreign currency through a "Bureau de Change" set up, for example, to try and exchange a counterfeit copy of solid currency such as US Dollars in another country where knowledge of the notes is likely to be less.

Summary

In summary, ultraviolet detection devices are probably the best all round products to detect the majority of counterfeit banknotes. They are cheap and cost little to maintain, they can be placed at each counter position or desk and maintenance costs are low.

In addition to the above Westminster can also provide training and advice in relation to counterfeit bank notes, credit/debit cards and other negotiable documents.

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