How do you know if the money you’re spending is real?
That may sound like a strange question, but it’s one worth considering. According to the US Department of Treasury, at least $70 million in counterfeit bills are currently in circulation. That means that one bill out of every 10,000 is fake.
If you think the likelihood of one of these bills ending up in your wallet is small, think again. On June 5, a couple in Twin Falls, ID was arrested after paying for items at a garage sale with fake $20 bills. In April, a woman in Seattle received a fake $20 from a Bank of America ATM machine. According to Fox 4, the woman withdrew $300 and noticed one of the bills was tattered. Upon closer inspection, she was shocked to find that the bill said, “For Motion Picture Use Only.”
Then in March, Girl Scouts in La Mesa, Calif. were given two fake $20 bills as payment for cookies. They didn’t discover they had been duped until a bank teller told them it was fake, and revealed that she had seen the same fraud happen to other Girl Scouts.
The Federal Reserve says that $20 bills are the most counterfeited notes in the US, while $100 notes are the most counterfeited bill internationally. We tend to be more focused on the dollar amount when money is exchanged, but as it turns out, we could be missing something even more important. To help you separate the real from the fake, NeoMam studios, a visual marketing agency, created this infographic with tips for what to look for.
Taking a closer look at the cash in your hand could end up saving you money in the long run.
Courtesy of: On Stride
