What is The Meaning of Counterfeit Money?
What is counterfeit money?
The process of making money consists of several stages, but nevertheless the process of counterfeiting money is one of the common fraudulent operations throughout the ages, and it is one of the most widespread operations around the world, and the counterfeiting of money is intended to make money that is similar and identical to the original currency with high craftsmanship, but it is money without any value that can be discovered In many ways, despite its conformity to the original currency,[1] counterfeit money is money that some try to use and trade as real money for the purpose of deception.
Counterfeit money in various currencies and denominations, whether through counterfeiting coins or paper money, may constitute a constant threat to any country or person, due to its great impact on the value of the real currency, so the state resorts to including some details and signs to distinguish the real currency from the counterfeit, so safety threads are added as a way to make it difficult The forgery process, and these threads are placed vertically outside the center of the paper during its manufacture, and these threads can be seen easily when exposing banknotes to light, as this thread appears as a broken line.
Counterfeit money is known as making money very close to the original money in terms of shape with high craftsmanship, but it is worthless money and is used for the purpose of deception, and it may pose a constant threat to society and individuals due to its great impact on the value of the original currency.
How to identify counterfeit money
It is easy for those who deal with money constantly, such as bank employees and cashiers, to detect counterfeit money easily by just touching it, but what about the general public and those who do not have this much experience in detecting counterfeit money? The responsible authorities usually add some restrictions and additions to the elements of making money to make the counterfeiting process more difficult, and among these additions are the following:
- Special paper.
- Color changing ink.
- Watermarks.
- Security threads.
- State seal.
- Numbering.
Despite the efforts made by the responsible authorities to prevent counterfeiting, counterfeiting continues despite the need for huge sums of money to support these operations. However, counterfeiters still produce currencies and exchange them locally and internationally. Here are the most prominent signs of counterfeit money that will help distinguish Fake money from the original:
Rough texture: Because the real money will be somewhat rough when touched, due to the ink used in it, so the smoother the texture, the more money will undoubtedly be fake.
Lack of security thread: A small stripe or what is known as a security thread is usually embedded vertically in the banknote, and this line can be seen when the banknote is exposed to light, and these threads usually glow in different colors.
Color change when the coin is moved in the light: This is to determine the color changing ink. For example, the color of a currency such as a dollar may change from copper to green when moved from different angles.
Lack of small details: a magnifying glass can be used to notice small details; Such as some drawings, small and complex lines for currency design, which are not found in counterfeit currencies.
The absence of a watermark: the watermark can be identified by holding the banknote in front of the light to the right of the image, which is difficult to imitate in counterfeit money, and a counterfeit money detector can be used, which is specially designed to note changes in currencies and compare them with the original currencies.
Counterfeit money detectors
There may be multiple counterfeit money detectors, but most of them aim to detect the security characteristics of banknotes to determine whether they are real or fake, and this device usually uses one or several methods to verify banknotes, and the more these methods increase the accuracy of the device, as these methods aim to detect About:
- Watermark.
- Security thread.
- UV.
- Size and other aforementioned security marks.
The dangers of using counterfeit money on the individual
Counterfeiting of money may threaten many individuals and owners of funds for its role in destroying the volume of sales and threatening the brands of individuals, as counterfeiting money is a global industry at the present time, and its danger increases with the development of technology through the development of methods of counterfeiters, [7] in addition to the volume of legal accountability for the forgery process Therefore, the use and circulation of counterfeit money is a criminal offense punishable by law with imprisonment, and the possession of any device, mold or machine used in counterfeit money is a crime punishable by law, except for some risks and devastating effects for those who trade counterfeit money, especially for those who own trademarks and capital, including :
- Increase production costs.
- profit margin loss.
- Loss of sales revenue.
- Fraudulent product warranty claims.
- Product liability claims.
- Damage to the brand and reputation of the product.
In addition to that, what makes counterfeit money have a negative impact on the individual and society is that counterfeiting money is like theft, as it depends on embezzlement of money and robbing people of their rights, and this in itself will reduce the value of real money by increasing the prices of commodities, in addition to the spread of crimes and problems among individuals. For the purpose of recovering rights, in addition to people losing confidence in trading real money.
The impact of counterfeit money on the economy of society
Money is an important part of the economic process, and the impact of counterfeit money may not be confined to the individual only, but also to the entire society, so counterfeiting money is a crime that poses a great and continuous threat to the local economy in addition to financial loss for citizens, so if the circulation of counterfeit currency is not controlled and eliminated Accordingly, this will lead to the collapse of the local economy and political and security instability, and the following are some of the negative effects resulting from the circulation of counterfeit money on society:
- Real money depreciation.
- Undermining the internal security of the state.
- Negatively affecting the reputation of the Central Bank of the country.
- Declining acceptance of paper money and cash currency in society.
- Depression of goods and services in countries where counterfeit money circulates frequently.
- Damage to the currency of the original country, and loss of confidence in the currency by citizens, investors and merchants.
- Inflation, or what is known as an increase in prices for goods and services as a result of an increase in counterfeit money.
- Heavy losses for not compensating merchants, companies and banks for counterfeit money even after confiscating it.
The production of counterfeit money constitutes a great threat at the level of the individual and society, due to the impact of this counterfeit money on the economic growth of society, in addition to the great legal responsibility that ensues from everyone who manufactures and trades this money, and although the advancement of technology has increased the circulation of counterfeit money all over the world, And that some of this money is of high quality and difficult to identify and distinguish between it and the real currency, but awareness of how to detect counterfeit money may contribute to combating and limiting the manufacture and circulation of this money, in order to ensure public safety and preserve the national and economic security of society, in addition to preserving rights general citizens.