Counterfeit - My worst nightmare

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Counterfeit - My worst nightmare

I can also think of worse nightmares, but they involve nacho cheese, tire chains, a teddy bear, inkjet cartridges and george w bush.

I wasn't seeing any negative side until you got to the final element.

[damontucker]

Re: Counterfeit - My worst nightmare

Doc -

I can get you a "non" working "surveilance camera" All you have to do is mount it and plug it in... then take a cable cord and plug it into the back and run it into the wall... (there is actually a blinking red light once you plug it in so it looks like it is working )

It actually used to be a True Closed Circuit Camera... however it doesn't work other than the red blinking light....I was using it to scare people from coming onto my property a few years back...but the problem has ended and I no longer need it.

Your Cost $0.00 Just send me a PM of where I can send it to and I'll put in the mail in the next couple days.... (you have to figure out a way to mount it though....and then I suggest a few signs around the store saying.... this place is monitored by Surveilance Camera.... etc... and make sure the camera is in a place where a prospective thief would for sure see it)

[Queenolu]

Re: Counterfeit - My worst nightmare

Adrian sorry to hear this happened to you. Based on my HR employment law knowledge and I am sure it's not different in HI.

Your employer CAN NOT deduct money from your paycheck for operational lost. Part of having a business is assuming certain types of loss due to occurance such as this. This is why you need insurance if you are a fully operating business.

The sticky part is that you do have the Pen that was used to check the bills given to you by your employer. Were you properly trained on how to use the pen and what is counterfeit and what is not???? If you were given the Pen without full instruction on how to use it then clearly the fault is with the employer. If you were given the Pen with proper training then you hold some of the responsibility and can be reprimended by written warning or termination based on company policy. They are not to deduct from your pay for hours that you have legally worked. It is against the law.

The first thing your boss should have done as soon as he found out is to call the police to report the incident. This is a federal offense to pass fake notes.... there are even Super notes out there now that you can not detect easily. The police would have been there to take the report and a federal investigator will probably follow to investigate the incident. The Secret Service has exclusive jurisdiction for investigations involving the counterfeiting of United States obligations and securities. Where there is $200 fake notes... there are plenty more out there and Secret Service would like to stay on top of it. It is not too late to call the police, and the Secret Service ....call now.. right away. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE if you don't report this to Secret Service to collect those bills from you. They have a field office in Honolulu, check out the sites below for that info.

Below are useful sites to visit on information on what to do with the money and how to spot fakes.
http://www.treas.gov/usss/money_receive.shtml
http://www.treas.gov/usss/counterfeit.shtml
http://www.treas.gov/usss/know_your_money.shtml

Your employer(friend) should take this as a business loss, file a claim if he is really press about his money or take as a operational loss during tax time. He is doing something illegal if he deducts your pay for hours you worked fair and square.

You have to learn to separate business from friendship.

Good luck to you.

[damontucker]

Re: Counterfeit - My worst nightmare

Doc - you should ask to see the mugshot of this guy that was in today's paper...

Police arrested a 30-year-old man who allegedly tried to pass counterfeit money Sunday night.
Police said the man went into an Iwilei store at about 10:55 p.m. and asked for change for a $100 bill.
The manager could tell the bill was fake from the color, police said. She marked the bill with a counterfeit detection pen to confirm her suspicion, and police were called and arrested the man for investigation of first- degree forgery.

http://starbulletin.com/2006/10/07/news/briefs.html

If you recognize him as the same guy... your store can probably press charges also.

[Erika Engle]

Re: Counterfeit - My worst nightmare

There's been a lot of talk about the pens, that many merchants use, but the pens are not endorsed by the U.S. Secret Service, part of the U.S. Treasury Department charged with the security of our currency.

Wrote a column about it, after a local plate lunch place got ripped off. Like to hear it? Here it go:

http://starbulletin.com/2004/02/08/business/engle.html

Here's the U.S. Secret Service page on counterfeiting, along with links to resources.

http://www.secretservice.gov/counterfeit.shtml

I hope you find these helpful and that nothing like this ever befalls you again. I really don't see it as your fault, given your employer's responsibility to provide proper training.

[SouthKona]

Re: Counterfeit - My worst nightmare

There's been a lot of talk about the pens, that many merchants use, but the pens are not endorsed by the U.S. Secret Service, part of the U.S. Treasury Department charged with the security of our currency.

Wrote a column about it, after a local plate lunch place got ripped off. Like to hear it? Here it go:

http://starbulletin.com/2004/02/08/business/engle.html

Here's the U.S. Secret Service page on counterfeiting, along with links to resources.

http://www.secretservice.gov/counterfeit.shtml

I hope you find these helpful and that nothing like this ever befalls you again. I really don't see it as your fault, given your employer's responsibility to provide proper training.

Interesting article and link. From the article: ""If you look at any bill, with the exception of the $1 bill, you'll notice straight-on it's green, but tilt it away from you just a little and the color turns black in the bottom right-hand-corner". I've tried, and twisted the bill around like a huli huli chicken, and cannot get a corner to turn black.

[Erika Engle]

Re: Counterfeit - My worst nightmare

Hmm.

Not being an expert myself (I just interview them), I can offer no explanation.

[tutusue]

Re: Counterfeit - My worst nightmare

[...]I've tried, and twisted the bill around like a huli huli chicken, and cannot get a corner to turn black.

Ditto for me! After sellling a few items on CraigsList and requesting cash only, I'm a bit concerned!

[adrian]

Re: Counterfeit - My worst nightmare

Oh, and a question on using those counterfeit pens: When I use the pen, do I make a small mark on the side, or just cross it over the whole bill face?

[Erika Engle]

Re: Counterfeit - My worst nightmare

The way I've seen merchants do it is just a small mark -- a swift pass of the pen on the bill. Most of them seem to do it on a blank spot, not on the face of the dead president.

BTW, your EMPLOYER should supply the pen. At least two, one for backup.

[idvfilms]

Re: Counterfeit - My worst nightmare

Keep in mind that all US dollars starting at $20 contain a thin magnetic strip, if you hold it up to or under a light it's very easily seen.

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Counterfeit - My worst nightmare

Keep in mind that all US dollars starting at $20 contain a thin magnetic strip, if you hold it up to or under a light it's very easily seen.

I knew of the magnetic properties of the inks in US currency, but I had never heard about a strip in the bills.

[damontucker]

Re: Counterfeit - My worst nightmare

Is that strip actually magnetic?

I just held one of the new 20's up to a light...and their was a small strip on the left side that says USA TWENTY in small letters all the way across that strip.

[adrian]

F****, Not Again!!!

Are people targeting this particular store or what?

Two people gave me checks that doesn't have anything in the account!! I got the call from my boss on my way home, and the people who regularly rode the bus with me never seen me so sad. If I could, then I'd go out and find these people and rip their heads off then kill them.

Because of this, I'm thinking of quitting. I have no sales experience, just the computer tech experience, so I'm useless w/out a computer. I think if this was a big company, then this wouldn't happen because I've been trained, but I don't have any sales experience - all I relied on was my Police Explorer experience to remember faces and stuff.

And don't even ask how I'll pay the money back, as this totaled $600.

[Miulang]

Re: F****, Not Again!!!

Are people targeting this particular store or what?

Two people gave me checks that doesn't have anything in the account!! I got the call from my boss on my way home, and the people who regularly rode the bus with me never seen me so sad. If I could, then I'd go out and find these people and rip their heads off then kill them.

Because of this, I'm thinking of quitting. I have no sales experience, just the computer tech experience, so I'm useless w/out a computer. I think if this was a big company, then this wouldn't happen because I've been trained, but I don't have any sales experience - all I relied on was my Police Explorer experience to remember faces and stuff.

And don't even ask how I'll pay the money back, as this totaled $600.

Again, Adrian, whatever you do, DO NOT offer to pay your boss back. If the store has a policy of accepting checks, then as long as you asked for ID and made sure you got that information recorded, you're not liable. That's what your boss has liability insurance for.

Does the store accept credit cards? Your boss could change his payment policy so that you don't accept checks and only accept cash or debit/credit cards. You'd still run the risk of somebody trying to pass off a counterfeit bill (but you already learned your lesson on how to deal with that, yes? ), but with a credit card, your boss would still get the money...if the credit card was stolen, the bank would have to eat the loss, not your boss.

Miulang