Coolest Meeting
A few weeks ago, I attended a Chamber of Commerce meeting for the big city of Brownsburg, IN. It was relatively boring but I did win some free tickets to the Bears/Colts preseason game (download my first podcast to hear about this event). Today, I went back to that monthly meeting hoping to win another door prize. Well I didn't. But the guest speakers made up for it. Two men from the secret service came and talked to us about counterfeit bills. Then (and this is the awesome part) they passed out counterfeit money for us to try and spend today. Okay not really. But they did pass some examples around. Some were laughable and others were downright convincing. One bill being made in Columbia (when it's not cocaine season) is actually a bleached out one dollar bill. They simply remove the ink and print a $20 bill on it. They even print the security strip and watermark so that it looks (and feels) like the real deal. The difference is that the security strip and watermark are only an off-white printing. So, if you can see the watermark without holding the bill up to a light, it is counterfeit. Here's a few facts about counterfeiting (and paper money) that you might find interesting:

1. 80% of the bills turned in to the secret service are ones that have been printed in an all-in-one, consumer brand printer/scanner/fax. So for about $100, you can start printing your own bills.

2. This year is on pace to have over $300,000 in counterfeit money turned. That's in the state of Indiana alone (mostly from Indianapolis).

3. Real money is not printed on paper made from wood pulp. It is printed on a cotton/linen fiber that is both durable and contains blue and red fibers for easier detection. This obviously makes real money a bit heavier than money printed on paper.

4. The security strips in real money react to UV light (black lights). They react by glowing a distinct color. $100 bill - glows red; 50 - yellow; 20 - green; 10 - orange; 5 - blue. Counterfeiters have not yet figured out how to copy this feature. So for about $15 you can go to Walmart and purchase a bill tester (small blacklight).

5. Most counterfeit money will fall apart with the addition of a bit of water. So don't leave your counterfeit bills in your pants pocket when you do your laundry.

6. Real money is printed so that the ink is raised off the paper. Fake money is printed flatly on the surface so that it feels slick to the touch.

7. This past year, a $200 counterfeit bill was collected from a Taco Bell store. Somebody brought in the bill, got $2 worth of food, and was given $198.00 (real money) in change. The bill was printed with Bill Clinton's picture on the front.

8. If you turn in a counterfeit bill, it's your loss. Nobody is obligated to pay you back. If a counterfeit is deposited into the bank, it is their loss.

Luckily for me, I rarely carry cash so I won't be affected much by all of this (other than in taxes). If everyone would just use debit cards, this wouldn't be a problem.