RCMP seeing increase in counterfeit currency passing in Central Island communities

The Campbell River RCMP, along with other detachments north of Nanaimo are investigating a notable increase in the passing of counterfeit currency being used on the Central Island.

According to Campbell River RCMP, there have been 23 reports of counterfeit currency being passed in the city since January 1 of this year and over 20 reports have been received by other detachments across the Central Island.

The predominant denominations of counterfeit currency tend to be $50 bills and $100 bills and police believe that the artists and bill passers are taking advantage of a lack of training for clerks in identifying counterfeit bills.

On closer examination of one of the fraudulent Frontier Series $100 bills, police say that no hologram picture exists on the fake due to it being merely tape over tin foil.

Another observation police noted on the fake bills is that they are printed on paper and not polymer.

Lastly, police noted that fakes can often have uneven edge cuts, something that real bills won’t have.

An example of one of the counterfeit bills can be seen below.

Typical Canadian bills are made from polymer, have holograms of a Prime Minister and Parliament clock tower embedded in the clear polymer and the edges around the maple leaf are transparent.

It’s unfortunate, said Cst. Maury Tyre, because the training tools to identify counterfeit bills are readily available on the Bank of Canada website and most counterfeit bills are easily identifiable if people know what they’re looking for. With the bulk of transactions being done electronically, it seems there is less focus in most retail locales on the identification of counterfeits and it’s allowed unscrupulous characters to pass these bills at a substantial loss to retailers.

Police are advising employees focus on training in order to protect their business from being taken advantage of by fraudsters.

In addition, police recommend watching out for transactions where customers try to buy small amounts of goods with big bills in order to get legitimate money in exchange and taking extra precaution with the currency they are using. Another step that RCMP suggests business owners take is updating store polices that only allow higher bills be used with valid identification.

More tips about counterfeit prevention can be found on the Bank of Canada website or from the Campbell River RCMP at 250-286-6221.

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