Protecting Your Dollars

You may already be an unwitting recipient of counterfeit dollars – or have been refused a purchase when handing over a $50 or $100 bill.

With new and advanced counterfeit dollars streaming into the marketplace, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to separate the real bills from the fakes. Of course, that’s the reason why large bills are eyed skeptically in so many shops.

The best thing to do is protect yourself, your business and your money.

Check to make sure bank notes are genuine when you receive them, just as you would count your change or verify your receipts. Recognizing genuine Canadian bank notes is quick and easy.

Here are some useful tips:

Feel the note: Touch the raised surfaces on your money. The ink should feel thick to the touch on the large denomination numeral, the words BANK OF CANADA/BANQUE DU CANADA, the Coat of Arms, and on the portrait.

Look at and Look through the note: Hold the Canadian Journey notes to the light to see a watermark, a windowed security thread, and the see-through number.
Tilt the note: Look for the changing colours.

Our Smart Car Community Patrol spent the weekend in Kerrisdale handing out various Counterfeiting Information packages to local businesses so that they may be better aware of what to look for when dealing with bills that they may be suspicious of.

The packages contained posters, pamphlets, cue cards and a magnifyfing glass that is attached to a keychain which holds assorted “bills” and tells of their security features.

We will in the future be dropping more of these packages off and encourage any business owner who wants one to simply call our office and we will have it delivered to you by our Community Patrol.

For more detailed information regarding Counterfeiting, visit: www.bankofcanada.ca