I am going to imitate a fellow poster and explain a couple of things about $100 notes so you can better check EVERY note you receive from an atm or a shop/bar etc.

1. (a) Real legitimate US notes are made from material and not paper.
Currency paper is composed of 25 percent linen and 75 percent cotton. Red and blue synthetic fibers of various
lengths (These can only be seen under ultraviolet light. It is a security feature)
are distributed evenly throughout the paper.
(b) The border is a consistent width on the note and is always the same width
(c) The serial numbers are different on each note
(d) The texture feels different to paper
(e) The printing on some of the note is intaglio (meaning raised) run a fingernail across Bens shoulder and you will feel it.
(f) Look at the white area on the left of the note (the way Ben is facing) hold it up to a light source and you will note a water
mark showing a rough outline of Bens face

2. Ghost money is made of paper.
It feels like paper , it is lighter , it has larger borders and sometimes has uneven borders. and most importantly it has the word "Copy"on it.

.

Arget wrote: ↑Fri May 31, 2019 12:54 pm I am going to imitate a fellow poster and explain a couple of things about $100 notes so you can better check EVERY note you receive from an atm or a shop/bar etc.

1. (a) Real legitimate US notes are made from material and not paper.
Currency paper is composed of 25 percent linen and 75 percent cotton. Red and blue synthetic fibers of various
lengths (These can only be seen under ultraviolet light. It is a security feature)
are distributed evenly throughout the paper.
(b) The border is a consistent width on the note and is always the same width
(c) The serial numbers are different on each note
(d) The texture feels different to paper
(e) The printing on some is intaglio (meaning raised) run a fingernail across Bens shoulder and you will feel it.
(f) Look at the white area on the left of the note (the way Ben is facing) hold it up to a light source and you will note a water
mark showing a rough outline of Bens face

2. Ghost money is made of paper.
It feels like paper , it is lighter , it has larger borders and sometimes has uneven borders. and most importantly it has the word "Copy"on it.

.

funny;
currently reading a book by lee child, "Killing Floor"
and it goes into this almost verbatim>>>
In the story line, Someone found a way to Bleach out the ink on $1 bill's and reprinted with $100 plates.
Getting the paper is the hardest part of Counterfeiting>>as ONLY one company, ( in Connecticut) makes it, Crane currency since 1770

As i dealt with tens of hundreds of thousands of $$ at a time when i worked out of HK, I have NEVER EVER gotten any copy notes such as these, but did get about more than a few counterfeit notes.

Plus it seems this ONLY occurs in Cambodia.

Experience from document examination training and common sense.

Another thing i would like punters to explore is how to save from being conned into the switcheroo game.

1. If you pay with a $100 or $50 note, never let it out of your sight. If you are paying in a shop and they wish to "verify with their boss" then ask them to copy the serial number or take a photo of it with the sales person holding it.
2. If you are in a bar do the same thing. It is easy for your bill to go to cashier and they just switch it and say sorry its a fake. You have no proof if you have no evidence of your notes number.
3. When you are handed a wad of notes as change the top and bottom notes will be legitimate and unblemished but the inside notes may be torn or defaced. Once you walk out you cannot go back and complain. Check it all before you leave and ask them to change it on the spot..................... Do this in banks too. I have asked for notes to be exchanged. ($20s)
4.Going for a massage? keep your clothing (money) where you can see it. These cheap $3 & $5 joints are scams to get you in and the hooks for clothes are by the door. While they straddle you and pretend to massage another will slip in and go through your pockets an wallet. They are not so stupid to take it all but they will take some and if you have some larger notes they will switch them for copy notes. If you complain a few blokes will appear and convince you that you have made a mistake.

The responsibility is yours so check your money at the time you receive it or accept you have been conned and get on with your holiday or life. Just don't get caught again. Fool me once shame on you . Fool me twice shame on me.

I was with a Khmer friend just the other day and withdrew $50 from an ATM. I usually withdraw Riel but this time I decided to withdraw dollar, and a $50 note came out. I rubbed it between my thumb and fingers, just to be sure it was legit. It was, but my Khmer friend asked me what I was doing. I said to him (partially as a joke) "Does that feel right to you?" and without even taking it from me, he said "Yes, it's real".

I asked him "How do you know without even feeling it?"

He replied "Because it doesn't say 'copy' on it".

It will be an ultraviolet light. Picks up security features of real notes.

clutchcargo wrote: ↑Fri May 31, 2019 9:54 pm The other night a friend and I were at the bar of a restaurant and my friend went to pay his bill with a $100 note and the cashier got what looked like a pen out and ran it over the note. Didn't leave a mark. Seeing that we asked what goes? Apparently it's to test for fake notes and if fake will leave a mark.

Obviously not designed to pick up the 'ghost' money annotated 'Copy' but for other other fake notes. Haven't seen this pen before..usually they seem to go by the texture and feel of the note.

They've changed most of the notes in the UK since I lived there. They're now made of - I think it's called polymer or something - which has more of a thin plastic feel to it and last a lot longer as they're supposedly impossible (or very difficult) to tear.

But when notes were the paper/cotton type, it was very common for shops to have pens under the counter which they'd run over the note to see if they were legit or not. they were like yellow highlighter types of pens. No idea if they still use them (or even if they work in the same way) for the new notes.