Archived Counterfeit bills?

[Retail Girl]

We had counterfeit money coming in daily. Turns it out; it was a group of people hitting stores in Southern Michigan/Northern OHio/Indiana.

We instructed all cashiers to check bills for watermarks and security bands. No pens, as it will read Good on bleached lower denomination bills.

If money was suspect, cashier called GSA for verification. If still suspect, LOD would be called and request another payment.

AP had me coach cashiers that didn't verify bills. In the month the scammers hit us, we lost over $5,000 in counterfeit money.

They eventually caught them in a store north ofDetroit. They tried to purchase a bunch of electronics with all counterfeit bills.

Ugh. Nothing worse than people buying high price items in one group and then us having to do a return in our group/district/store because of the other store accepting the bills. Glad they were caught!

 

[targetismylife09]

I always thought best practice was to accept the bills no matter what unless it is so bad it is like Monopoly money. Target does not want a lawsuit from accusing a guest of passing funny money. We are to let AP know and then deposit the bills just like the real ones. We also have had a slew of these lately, mostly 100's.

 

[targetismylife09]

On a side note, did you know that making a copy of a bill, even a counterfeit one, is considered counterfeiting also? An ETL AP told me this and had me re-size the bill when I made copies of our latest fakes!

 

[Retail Girl]

The problem is, most of the stuff they try to pass is so bad, anyone who has handled money for more than a couple of days in retail can pick it out without a second glance, and could probably do it blindfolded.

 

[redeye58]

^This.
After spending 5 yrs in CO, I could pick 'em out by touch before looking at them.
Bleached bills feel thicker & stiffer. If you wad them up, they crackle.
A treasury guy told me it's the paper (20# cotton rag); it's designed to swell if chemically altered (aka bleaching).

 

[catrainer]

The law is that banks, financial institutions, law enforcement, etc, are required to confiscate counterfeit money. I believe stores (in general) may do so, though it's best if they call the police and try to keep the person there. But most stores aren't going to do that because most people aren't trained in that sort of thing, and if the clerk is wrong and especially if the store takes the money, expect a lawsuit.

Target is insured against this sort of thing.

http://m.wyff4.com/Target-Will-Fight-3-Million-Award-In-Counterfeit-Bill-Dispute/6191970

Now granted, this was a bit more extreme than simply telling someone their bill is fake and being wrong (the email is what did them in) but Target isn't going to take any chances again.

This is why it's best practice to accept the bills and call AP over after. Apparently some stores just do their own policy though. No TM should be declining bills from a guest unless it's like Monopoly money. If you reject their bills and you are wrong, could get into deep trouble.

I once had a guest try to pay with monopoly money. (It was like a 6 year old girl). Her mom just laughed and swiped her card.

 

[Jill of All Trades]

Pretty sure that the law is to confiscate counterfeit bills and contact law enforcement. Specifically the Secret Service. You are never supposed to give them back. Of course it wouldn't surprise me if that is against Target policy.

You're mostly right on both counts. Secret Service suggests that retailers confiscate counterfeit bills, and target policy is to either accept them or return them and ask for another form of payment if you're authorized to use the pens. In this case, your employers policy trumps law enforcement's suggestion- keeping counterfeit bills is not a law.

 

[monkeyman90]

target wants us to use the pens, and that's it. i have cashiers do 4 checks. 1) feel it. does it feel like it should? call gstl over if you need help. never accuse, just refuse. 2) check the security strip, it should say right bill, right denomination. 3) color shifting ink. 4) watermark.

before i started we accepted a lot of washed bills. outside places like pharmacy, we haven't accepted a single fake bill.

we send them all to the bank, the bank can call bull

 

[CIHYFS]

The store I am at now has no pens to mark bills, but I worked in another Target in another state where we had them and we were instructed to mark bills $20 and higher. It was SO annoying.

 

[SeeSpotVibe]

For a while, we were supposed to take suspicious bills and tip off AP if the cashier told us after the incident. Eventually, that plan just wasn't working since shady people caught onto it (or someone tipped them off, not sure) and we were told to start telling cashiers to mark all 20's, 50's, and 100's and to call us over if they suspected fraud. Then, of course, we'd apologize and say we can't accept their bill. If they say they got it at the bank, we apologize again and redirect them to the bank. I've only had to turn down one guest so far and he apparently got arrested for unrelated crimes the following week.

 

[Reshop Ninja]

No markers at our store, never have been as far as I am aware.

Probably because the markers are not consistently effective. A lot of the fake twenties and hundreds we've seen around here are made with real five dollar bills, because of that the marker won't indicate that it's fake.

 

[Kompa]

doesn't everyone in the world use the money checker pens? Get with times Target

 

[redeye58]

The pens don't work if the bills are washed & reprinted.

 

[Kompa]

True but it's better to catch some fakes than to not try at all based of the fact it the pen will miss some.

 

[monkeyman90]

True but it's better to catch some fakes than to not try at all based of the fact it the pen will miss some.

you'll allow more fakes with using the pen IMO then just checking security features.

 

[thetargetman]

I always hold 50's and 100's up to see the watermark. I do not care what the store policy is on that. if I mark it with the pen it will show it as "real" if it was a bleached lower bill. If it is a questionable bill I call my GSTL/GSA over and tell the guest I just need to have the transaction approved by a supervisor.

 

[NewCashierLT]

Sorry to bump, but I am really frustrated about this issue. I was "warned" (not sure if this is a coaching) about a transaction in which I accepted counterfeit $100 bills by a GSTL. The counterfeit bills were "real" according to the pen, so like thetargetman said, it was probably a bleached lower bill. Since then, I have been checking for watermarks on all $20, $50, and $100 bills. Yesterday, as another GSTL came over to provide the change I requested, she saw me checking for the watermark, and instructed me not to do that, since it's "rude" to the guest. She told me to go by "feel" if it's counterfeit or not. I will try to check for the other markings like suggested, but if a cashier find out that a bill is counterfeit through other means and decline it (with the approval of a GSTL or AP?), doesn't it equate to checking through a watermark and declining it? Either way, it's "rude" to the guest, so I don't understand why checking through a watermark is such an issue.

 

[NPC]

Sorry to bump, but I am really frustrated about this issue. I was "warned" (not sure if this is a coaching) about a transaction in which I accepted counterfeit $100 bills by a GSTL. The counterfeit bills were "real" according to the pen, so like thetargetman said, it was probably a bleached lower bill. Since then, I have been checking for watermarks on all $20, $50, and $100 bills. Yesterday, as another GSTL came over to provide the change I requested, she saw me checking for the watermark, and instructed me not to do that, since it's "rude" to the guest. She told me to go by "feel" if it's counterfeit or not. I will try to check for the other markings like suggested, but if a cashier find out that a bill is counterfeit through other means and decline it (with the approval of a GSTL or AP?), doesn't it equate to checking through a watermark and declining it? Either way, it's "rude" to the guest, so I don't understand why checking through a watermark is such an issue.

Yeah, she's just micromanaging you. Having said that, she's not really wrong either. I wouldn't bother checking $20 bills unless they felt strange. I don't know if I'd call it "rude" but it's definitly a huge waste of time to check every $20 bill coming at you. I mean come on, that's a lot of bills to be checking. I'd only check $50 and $100 bills. It's better for time management, and it's fair to assume that large bills get checked. That's just a general business practice. You don't have to hold them up to the sky either. I just hold mine up in front of the monitor as I count, and that's enough light for me to see a watermark.

In my experience, the feel of a bill is always a dead give away so that's what your GSTL is probably talking about. They just feel "off." When I count money, that's something I'm paying attention to. If I find one that doesn't feel right, THEN I'll for sure double check watermarks. Yeah, and those pens are bullshit too. Don't bother with those.

 

[can't touch this]

me: They're real I promise, I just got them from the bank this afternoon!

also me:

 

[redeye58]

If a bill has been bleached it affects the texture of the paper so it feels thicker, more crackly & dry.
During my CO tenure I could usually catch it by touch before anything else.
Your GSTL probably thinks you should do that too but it takes multiple times before you develop a feel for it.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Watch the numbers on the bills, too. But, when in doubt, ask your GSA or gstl for help. Keep your hand on the items... You want no pushouts without paying to happen to you.

 

[Times Up]

Our store has the bill scanners since counterfeiting was such a problem. Everything over $10 goes through it.

 

[Anelmi]

We just got new pens that supposedly work better. But you can feel the difference too. The seal is raised and the paper just looks/feels different.

We have to mark all 20s and higher.

 

[Fix It]

Best practice is to scream “WE GOT A LIVE ONE, GET EM BOYS!” Followed by AP tackling them.

Maybe I’m wrong about that. Can’t remember.

 

[gsa4lyfe]

Best practice is to mark all 20,50,100s and just simply tell the guest “sorry I can’t accept these they’re not real” if they have a problem and usually they won’t just call over a gsa/gstl. We had fake 10s come through just the other day!