Citibank Counterfeiting Attempt Shows Fake Cash Still a Problem (NYSE: C)

A New York City woman was arrested on Wednesday after police said that she attempted to deposit 19 counterfeit $100 bills into her Citibank (NYSE: C) checking account at the company’s Franklin Square Branch in Brooklyn.

The woman, Kercia Hutchinson, 28, was arrested by Nassua County Police soon after the bank realized Hutchinson’s counterfeit attempt. Hutchinson’s attempt to pass fake currency into the monetary system is only one small-time criminal trying to rip-off a bank and the economy as a whole, but counterfeiting is still very much a real issue in the United States and beyond.

In the United States alone, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Chamber of Commerce say that counterfeiting costs U.S. businesses between $200 and $250 billion each year. A 1998 report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development stated that they believe the cost of global counterfeit sales may be as high as $600 to $650 billion a year.

Most counterfeiting in the United States is done by small-time criminals looking to make it through to the next paycheck and is easily caught. Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to train the millions of retail workers that serve as cashiers to spot non-obvious fake bills. Some retailers have started to begin using counterfeit checking pens to verify the authenticity of large bills, but often cashiers are ill-prepared as to what to do if they come across a fake piece of currency.

There’s also the problem of counterfeit clothing, fashion products, DVDs, software, which some would argue costs businesses billions of dollars worth of loss sales each year. This is probably less of an impact than individuals attempting to pass of phony cash, because many buyers of counterfeit goods know what they are purchasing and would have otherwise not purchased the good at a higher price.

Although the U.S. Mint has taken many steps to make currency harder to duplicate, that still doesn’t stop would-be criminals from trying. If you are a retailer, make sure to use a counterfeit checking pen and check for the metal strip in each bill. You can also view the Secret Service’s guide to detecting counterfeit money.