News Archive
2008 Articles
2007 Articles
2006 Articles
2005 Articles
2004 Articles
2003 Articles
2002 Articles
2001 Articles
2000 Articles
1999 Articles
Past Articles
|
|
Gannett News Service
June 3, 2002
FUNNY MONEY IN DIGITAL AGE: Counterfeiting goes high-tech on campuses
For years, the stereotypical picture of a counterfeiter has been the one put
forth by Hollywood: a recluse in a shuttered house, huddled over meticulously
carved printing plates and freshly printed sheets of cash hanging from a
clothesline to dry.
While this may have been accurate at one point, the counterfeiter of today is
more likely to be hunched over a computer keyboard, tweaking a color scanner or
calibrating an inkjet printer.
The proliferation of affordable computers, scanners and printers has
drastically changed the world of counterfeiting. According to Jim Mackin, agent
and spokesperson for the Secret Service, the percentage of counterfeit money
made by digital means (as opposed to traditional offset printing) rose from
one-half of 1 percent in 1995 to a whopping 47 percent in 2000.
"With what we call a 'p-note,' which comes off a computer or an
inkjet-generated process, you no longer have to have the skill set to carry out
the crime," Mackin said. "So we did see a rise." Mackin said that $ 12.6 million
in counterfeit money was seized in 2001, of which 42 percent was produced
digitally.
"It's a fairly common problem," said Michael G. Kessler, president of the
forensic accounting and investigative consulting firm Kessler International.
"Any person can basically see the problem when they go to a gas station, and
nobody will take $ 20 or $ 100 bills anymore."
A changing demographic
According to Kessler, counterfeiting of cash still takes place in typically
shadowy realms -- organized crime, for instance, or terrorist organizations. But
he has seen a dramatic increase in counterfeiting among college students as
well.
"That's one where you'd never expect it," he said. "They're doing it right on
the college campuses." He estimates that while some students are scanning and
printing money to make ends meet, just as many are doing it for the thrill.
According to Mackin, one of the front lines in the battle against fake money
is educating the public. He advises consumers and merchants to become much more
attentive to detail when accepting cash and suggests comparing questionable
bills with ones they know are legitimate.
Proof in the paper
Kessler said that although the quality of digitally forged money can be very
high, there is one major sticking point: the paper. "I've seen some really good
stuff that's very difficult to tell apart from the real McCoy, if it wasn't for
the paper," he said.
U.S. currency is printed on blank stock made from 100 percent rag content,
which is very expensive. In addition, currency paper has a major security
feature built-in: synthetic red and blue fibers are mixed into the paper while
it is still in liquid form, before it is pressed. Paper mills are prohibited by
law from manufacturing paper containing these fibers.
The penalties for counterfeiting always have been stiff, but they recently
got stiffer: According to Mackin, the Patriot Act of 2001 raised the minimum
sentence from 10-to-15 years to 20 years. And arrests are on the rise: 5,241
counterfeiters were nabbed in 2001, up from 3,467 the year before. "Even though
there are more people counterfeiting, we are arresting more people, too," Mackin
said.
|
|
