Fake ?20 notes at Christmas Fairs

[ECJ]

At last week's Charter Christmas fair, there was a conman using fake ?20s (and trying to use fake ?50s). We rumbled him but failed to stop him getting away (and also failed to get a photo, which we're kicking ourselves for now!) The fake notes were hard to spot (we only realised after he bought 2 hot dogs in quick succession with 2 x ?20 notes); they have holograms and strips but the colouring of the Queen's head is a bit different; you can only really tell in bright light and when you have a real note to compare it to.

Apparently one way round this is to have a 'bank' at the Fair where people can change their ?20s for ?10 notes and the person doing the changing knows how to spot a fake. That's what we'll be doing next year!

[alex_b]

You can buy bank note tester pens for a couple of pounds on Amazon. If you have a central 'bank' then you can also use UV lights to check but they're probably too expensive for every stall holder.

[Angelina]

oh no. The School Fair was brilliant, so I hope this conman didn't put a dampner on it too much :-(

I bought one of the wreaths and absolutely love it!

[solar]

This has happened at other local fairs in the past. The perpetrators know that volunteer stallholders may not be experienced at handling cash so it is relatively easy for them to pass off dud notes as genuine. It's a good idea having a central bank run by an astute cash handler though.

[ianr]

I've spent an engaging twenty minutes checking all the visible banknote security features listed in the B of E's booklet (3MB PDF) https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/-/media/boe/files/banknotes/take-a-closer-look.pdf. It covers the current notes. If you still have access to the fakes it would be interesting, and possibly useful, to know which of the security features actually show them up as fakes, once you know what to look for, and which don't.

[ECJ]

We've handed them over to the police now. We concluded that you'd need a bit of training to spot the fakes, hence the idea of having one person in change of checking and changing ?20 into ?10s.

[tomskip]

Wow, how low can you go? Trying to embezzle money out of a school fair? I don't know if I find that sad or outrageous.

[Penguin68]

I don't know if I find that sad or outrageous.

They're criminals - it comes with the job description. Low-lifes choose the vulnerable and easy to steal from - and it's not embezzlement, it's theft. Embezzlement would be where the organisers diverted funds. Passing forged currency used to be punishable by death. It's seen not simply as theft, but as undermining the economic status of the country. Which is why the Nazis, famously, tried to flood the UK with forged white fivers.

[fishbiscuits]

Do you not get fake ?10 notes too?

[alex_b]

fishbiscuits Wrote:

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> Do you not get fake ?10 notes too?

The new plastic notes are both much harder to forge and as they're lower value it's less worthwhile to attempt it.