Claire Beaumont, a Bank of Canada analyst, compares real and counterfeit bills.
Last year, the Ottawa Police Service received 114 reports of counterfeiting and to stay one step ahead of counterfeiters the Bank of Canada is educating businesses about the finer points of spotting fake money.
In a free presentation at the Ottawa Public Library, Bank of Canada analyst Claire Beaumont taught audience members how to check the security features of the current “journey series” bills, which the bank introduced in 2002.
The bills have five main security features:
• a metallic strip on the left side of the front with the value number of the bill and maple leaves that change colour running down it;
• a watermark, or ghost image, of the personage on the bill that appears in the blank white spot when held up to light;
• an incomplete number that fills in when held up to light;
• dashes on the back that change colour and become a solid stripe when held up to the light;
• raised ink.
The bills also have ultraviolet features, but those can’t be verified without an ultraviolet light, and they can be imitated as well.
Beaumont said three security features should be verified on every bill. If a bill is held up to the light, the three features can be checked at the same time – the watermark, the dashes on the back, and the incomplete number.
“Good counterfeiters will be able to mimic at least some of the features,” said Beaumont. “But, the likelihood they would perfect three is very low.”
In 2000 and 2001, the Bank of Canada issued pre-journey series five and 10 dollar bills. The only obvious security features they have are shiny maple leaves that change colours.
Many of those are still in circulation, though the bank is trying to retire them. This older series of fives and 10s was easier to counterfeit, said Detective George Mendoza of the organized fraud section of the Ottawa Police Service.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, when colour printers became more accessible and the new features had not yet been installed in the bills, Canada saw a spike in counterfeiting. But once the watermark came in, it was a lot harder to counterfeit, said Mendoza.
In conjunction with the Bank of Canada, the RCMP offers free educational programs on counterfeiting and other forms of financial fraud, such as credit card fraud.
“For businesses it’s a win-win situation,” said Sgt. Taro Tan, of the RCMP Proceeds of Crime unit. “They should take advantage of these free services.”
About every 15 years, the Bank of Canada issues a new series of bills. Next year, it will issue polymer (plastic)- fibred bills. Beaumont said they won’t know what features the new bills will have until next year.
“Technology moves fast, so we just have to stay a step ahead of the counterfeiters,” said Det. Mendoza. “Any new thing the Bank of Canada does is better.”