Counterfeiting With High Resolution Inkjets

Makarand writes "Thanks to the availability of low cost high quality inkjet printers, crooks are now able to produce currency indistinguishable from the real banknotes, at least under dim lighting conditions like that in a bar or a nightclub. The term "digifeiters" is being coined for counterfeiters that use cheap high-resolution printers to produce fake currency. Unlike costly color xerographic copiers that come inbuilt with features to detect security details on banknotes and stop currency copying, no cheap printers come with such feature. An anti-digifeiting system for cheaper printers may consist of printer driver software capable of recognizing data patterns indicating currencies of several countries." I wonder what GimpPrint would think of being forced to print or not print certain documents based on their contents.

Comments

Re:Where can you get that type of paper?

[IO ERROR]

I notice the difference between that and normal printing paper easily. So where are these people getting that style of paper, and does it change the quaility or ability to print... or are bar tenders and the such just stupid and don't realize?

Not after you set the bills down on a bar that's wet due to drink spillage, etc. The other thing is that bartending is VERY fast paced, it would be easy to not notice.

There are other issues

[thinmac]

At least with U.S. currency, there are more issues than just he appearence of the bill. A big one, for example, is the material. If you printed out a set of nice new bills on standard copier paper, nobody would believe for a second that it was a real bill, low lights or no. There have been counterfiters who have bleached out low value bills, such as ones, and printed higher values onto them, like twenties, but I'm not sure how well your average inkjet printer would feed the cottony paper used for bills.

I'm no currency expert, but I would imagine there are a lot of issues like this that aren't effected by the gross appearence of the bill for both U.S. and other bills.

Re:Plastic Notes work well

[spoco2]

But the plastic money we have allows you to instantly see the difference between notes (Different colours and sizes), instantly tell that it's the real deal or a really expensive counterfeit (the clear plastic window), and it is just like having paper money in the way it handles, except that it's more durable (you can put it through the wash etc)

The problem with US money (and I've lived there for a while), is that all the notes look about the same, all are the same colour, they wear out very quickly, and they're very easy to counterfeit. (At least to the point of using in everyday money transactions... how many checkout chicks carefully look over every note?)

the penalties from counterfitting

[luzrek]

I hate to say it, but only an idiot would counterfit any currency. Wired magazine had an article on this a couple of years ago. The pennalties for counterfitting in the USA is $250,000 AND 25 years in prision per offence. An offence is making, or trying to pass a counterfit note. It is also pretty easy to get caught, since most clerks have pens which can detect fake notes.

As for the technical aspects. Take a look at the "big head" notes. Their is microprinting on the lower left side of the portrait. This microprinting is so fine, that light reflecting off of them scatters making it impossible to make a clear copy. In addition, there is multi-colored ink on one of the 5/10/20/50/100 numbers in the corners. And there is that pesky watermark. Oh, and ink from inkjets runs like there is no tommorow. A sweatty person couldn't pass those notes.

All in all, the penalties for counterfitting and the risk of getting caught are too high.

Re:Plastic Notes work well

[BandwidthHog]

Ask a paper wholesaler, and of course they'll say they can't get it and don't know what it is. Instead, just ask for Crane's Crest Flourescent Opaque White. Obviously it won't have the red and blue fibers, but it'll have the feel you're looking for. Myself, I use it for resumes. Anything printed on that stuff *will* be taken more seriously than similar stuff on similar papers, but nobody will realize why, or even that they do like the feel of it better.

hmph

[dh003i]

Not the printing forged money is ok, but I don't want my printer "deciding" what to and not to print. What's next, printers "deciding" not to print documents they deem as anti-government? Or not printing images they deem as pornography?

Currency Rarely Checked

[suwain_2]

I've recently started working in a restaurant, and as such handle a fair deal of cash. I have to say, I've never bothered to check currency to see if it's real. I know in some department stores it's required for the clerks to use a counterfeit-detecting pen on anything over $20, but this is certainly not the norm.

The problem is that you can do a fairly lousy job, especially if you're giving me a wad of various bills to pay for your dinner. (ie, if you give me a bunch of $5's and $1's, I'd just throw them all in the register, most likely not even looking at them one-by-one.)

Machines exist for 'counting' money (at extremely high rates) that automatically check various security features. Suppose cash registers started having an interface to this -- you'd stick the money in, and it would automatically undergo security checks.

By the way, am I the only one who isn't too convinced that the new bill styles will be effective? The old ones will still be accepted, and if they're easier to forge, why wouldn't I just forge one of those? Frequently changing their design won't really counter counterfeiting (heh, no pun intended there).