Counterfeit $100's from Nigeria

Source:
http://www.kansas.com/212/story/58678.html




Counterfeit $100s 'very convincing'
BY STAN FINGER
The Wichita Eagle

At first glance, they looked genuine. The $100 bills even fooled workers used to handling money. But they were, indeed, fake Ben Franklins -- and they reflect another scam originating out of Nigeria and other African nations, Wichita police said Monday.

"It's very convincing," Capt. Darrell Haynes said. "This is probably the best counterfeit money that I have encountered."

A 54-year-old Wichita man was sent $10,000 in $100 bills as part of a proposed business venture. He was asked to send cash to Nigeria via Western Union.

The victim gave a local Western Union office $3,500 worth of the bills, Haynes said. The clerk accepted the money and dutifully wired money to the address he was given.

But when the victim went to a Bank of America branch to deposit the remainder of the money, he told the teller that a friend mentioned the money may be counterfeit -- and the teller confirmed it.

The fake money didn't have the color-shifting ink or the microprinting that is used on genuine bills.

The shifting colors in the lower righthand corner of a genuine bill will vary according to the denomination, Haynes said, but they do shift as the bill is moved under light. And a genuine bill has tiny print that has proven difficult for counterfeiters to effectively mimic.

"It takes real high-quality, specialized printing to make the microprint," Haynes said.

But this batch of fake money was able to fool the markers many banks and merchants use to detect counterfeits. Many of the bills found to be counterfeit were marked with the color-changing pens frequently used to verify bills, Haynes said.

"Don't count on those little pens being your savior," he said.

Anyone questioning the authenticity of bills they've been given should "take a serious look" at them, he said. A 10-power magnifying glass can bring out microprinting on genuine currency, he said.

Because these con artists can be so difficult to catch across international boundaries, Haynes said, the best protection for consumers is to not get involved in the first place.

Residents should be "very skeptical" of any requests to ship money for someone they haven't met, he said, because it may well be a scam.

"Think twice about it," he said.

While previous scams have typically used fraudulent checks or money orders, he said, this is the first time local officials have seen counterfeit currency being shipped.

[jamal]

This just shows how much scam/thieving progress these scammers from nigeria & bordering african countries are making...it is an organised crime structured like a business- that the money made from all their other scams/ theft is being reinvested in bigger scams i.e first it was via net/emails (still is going on) then the ones who have made enough money via net/mail/ 419 scams go on to buy fraudulant/fake ID's passports (mainly false EU passports Dutch e.t.c) then travel to other countries to carry on/ expand their business of theft with live face to face scams/ bank loans scam/ credit card scams/ ID theft...the list is endless...

they then plough the money back into further criminal ventures to steal even more money. Then the setting up of businesses (with physical stock) as a front, then laundering/ wiring the money, making it look legitimate via their own money wiring/ transfer shops/ agencies, again once they have enough money buying expensive equipment to actually make even more money (literally make money) i.e through counterfeiting machinery...yet governments & authorities are not even trying to prevent it. Theres so many preventative measures that I can think of -yet governments cant??