Surge in Counterfeit Dollar Bills Across North America Highlights Crypto Security and Scams
Summary:
The surge of counterfeit dollar bills across North America, stretching from Texas to Hawaii to Canada, prompts security concerns. Authorities have arrested individuals suspected of producing these fake notes. The counterfeit cash, often resembling $100 bills, has been used widely, impacting businesses and even appearing in Ontario, Canada. Incidents of counterfeit cash aren't limited to North America, as reports from Spain and Germany suggest. These events cast a shadow on traditional fiat currencies and central bank policies, while highlighting the security of crypto assets against counterfeiting. However, crypto scams persist, exemplified by incidents of selling worthless testnet BTC or promoting spurious crypto tokens.
North America witnesses a surge in the circulation of counterfeit dollar notes in the post weeks, spreading from Texas to Hawaii and even reaching Canada. A man in Brownsville, Texas, suspected of producing these fake notes, was arrested by local police on May 8. This 45-year-old man faces seven forgery charges after several community businesses including grocery stores, hotels, restaurants, and gas stations reported receiving counterfeit cash.
The circulation of the fake money isn't restricted to one locale. There have been cases of counterfeit currency being used to gain entry into a baseball field in Ohio. In Hawaii, criminals have been reported converting low-denomination USD bills into $100 ones. Fake $1 bills are bleached of ink and reprinted to resemble $100 bills. These bogus notes are often used for small purchases to get real money back as change.
This year, Ontario, Canada, also reported the circulation of counterfeit $100 notes. Furthermore, on May 12, Charlottetown Police in Canada cautioned local businesses about the circulation of counterfeit American $100 bills originally used as movie props.
Simultaneously, a former member from Donald Trump's team is under scrutiny for claiming in a widely circulated TikTok video that he hands out “Hollywood fake money” to homeless people. In 2023, the U.S. Secret Service seized almost $22 million in counterfeit currency, prompting ABC News to report that "counterfeiting crime is making a comeback" in March.
The fake money issue is not confined to North America however. On May 12, Insider Politic reported that a Barcelona resident had been detained for producing counterfeit 20 and 50-euro notes in her apartment. Also in April, German officials reported seizing counterfeit dollar bills amounting to over $103 million face value.
This recent uptick in counterfeit cash circulation deals another setback to traditional fiat currencies, which have already been under macroeconomic scrutiny over the past year or so. Critics, especially from the crypto community, are denouncing the central bank policy of money printing and inflation of circulation. Tesla CEO Elon Musk likened the operations of the U.S. central bank to a Monopoly game for its seeming endless cash supply, through a tweet on May 12.
In contrast, crypto assets such as Bitcoin are near-impossible to counterfeit or double-spend, thanks to the indelible nature of the blockchain they're based on and the overall network's foolproof consensus security. However, this doesn't negate the prevalence of other scams, such as deceptive selling of worthless testnet BTC or promoting bogus tokens that mirror original ones in name or ticker symbol. In one such case in March, fraudsters exploited a fake Ethena labs token to swindle $290,000 from the Binance launch pool.
Published At
5/13/2024 8:35:10 AM
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