RCMP share tips for spotting counterfeit currency

Do you know what to look for when it comes to spotting fake money?

A group of about 30 people turned out Wednesday afternoon as Red Deer RCMP hosted a counterfeit currency presentation as part of Crime Prevention Week. 

“The purpose of today was to make sure that the business people of Red Deer know what are the security features for Canadian currency,” said Cpl. Joe Stubbs with the RCMP Calgary Federal Serious Crime Unit. “We have some instances in Red Deer and around Canada where counterfeit currency is being passed. What we’re finding is it’s because of a lack of knowledge of what to look for.”

In his presentation, Stubbs said there are three keys to identifying authentic Canadian currency – “Feel, Look, and Flip.”

“It feels like a polymer [and] doesn’t feel like there’s anything pasted into it, doesn’t feel like anything’s taped to it, and has the proper raised print that it should,” he said. “When I’m looking at it, it does the things that it’s supposed to as far as the holograms and seeing your hand through the open windows. Flipping it, the holograms on the back should do the exact same as the front.”

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Stubbs says the switch to polymer bills has led to a drastic drop in the volume of counterfeit bills being produced.

“Right now it’s less than nine parts per million,” he pointed out. “Before switching to polymer we were in the three digits [range].”

Stubbs says the most common method for producing fake currency in Alberta is often referred to as “Frankensteining.”

“This is the one we see where [they] are taking a legitimate holographic strip and cutting it out of smaller denomination bills and then taping it into paper counterfeits of larger denominations.”

Contrary to popular belief, Stubbs says the number of cash transactions in Canada has held steady over the past several years, highlighting the importance of being able to spot a fake. He says RCMP are also looking to learn more about Bitcoin technology and the impacts it will have on commerce as its popularity grows.

Stubbs’ responsibility is to share information from investigations across the prairies with integrated counterfeit enforcement teams in Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto.  From there, they work with local agencies and the Bank of Canada to identify and address counterfeit crimes.

“It’s like every other crime trend that policing has experienced over time in that when we catch up to what the criminal is doing, or when they catch up to our prevention practices, that cat and mouse game continues. Hopefully, we’ll be able to keep it at very small numbers.”

One of the good things about polymer bills in that regard, Stubbs says, is their security features are easy to update.

You can visit the RCMP or Bank of Canada websites for more on how to spot counterfeit currency. For American currency information, you can visit newmoney.gov.