We hear it all the time, “I know if the bill is fake just by feeling it” or “All you have to do it hold it up to the light and you can tell”. And yeah sure, sometimes that can work. After you’ve been in the retail industry for a while you do start to learn when a bill looks suspect or when it’s obviously a fake. But what about the times when it’s not so obvious? Bleached bills feel exactly like real bills because the paper is real, but the denomination is very fake. You can also see a watermark on a bill when you hold it up to the light but what if the room is dark or you just don’t know what watermark to look for? Or the biggest one of all, what if your cashier is busy or young and inexperienced and they don’t bother to check?
We’ve broken down three easy ways to train your staff or maybe even yourself how to detect phony bills before they end up in your register. And best of all most of them are free!
1. Utilize the U.S. Currency Education Program’s Cashier Toolkit to learn the most recent security features of all denominations of US currency. In the Toolkit you can also download a reference card to leave at registers and take a free Training Course. Review this information with your staff regularly to ensure that everybody is
comfortable with the information.
2. Teach your staff what to do when they’ve been given a counterfeit bill. Identifying that the bill you’ve just been handed is fake is usually just the first problem. If you accept the bill into your register, it’s now your problem and you will not be reimbursed by the police. Read more about how the Secret Service recommends
handling fake money HERE. But what’s most important is that your staff remains safe. If you do find yourself the victim of a bad bill learn how to Report a Counterfeit on the U.S. Currency Education Program’s website.
3. Employ a counterfeit detection solution at your store’s register. Having a counterfeit detector at your register solves the majority of your problems.
Devices like Dri Mark’s Flash Test are easy to train and are 99.9% effective. Another benefit of having a detection solution at the register is that they serve as a deterrent against criminals. A store who is known to have counterfeit detectors are usually not targeted and the problem stops before it even begins. Shop Dri Mark’s full range of detection solutions HERE.
