A journey to discover some scams that counterfeiters tried to implement in 2019

You can never be calm.

This is undoubtedly the moral that can be drawn from these stories of attempted scams with counterfeit protagonists who tried to propel fake banknotes to ignore people.

Looking around the net for these stories there are plenty of them. For this reason, I decided to list some of the ones that impressed me most.

But first I want to make a clarification that I will never tire of repeating.

How can you not take risks by avoiding handling fake money?

With a money processing device, then with a note counter or a coin sorter, able to verify whether the money that counts is false or true.

In fact, technology has made great strides in recent years and is increasingly precise in identifying counterfeit banknotes with certainty for example with a banknote detector. For this reason, so much so that you are here, I recommend you take a look at the products you find by clicking here!

Having done this, we can now safely review some of the most sensational fake money scams of 2019.

2 euro scam: coins from Kenya are worth less than 20 cents

Beware of the 2 euros you receive as a rest. By mistake or for voluntary fraud, in fact, they could give you coins very similar to the two euros but which are actually worth less than 20 cents.

The currency in question are the 20 shillings of Kenya which however are only worth 0.16 euro cents. In the haste to take back the rest at the cashier and in the unavailability of a coin counter, with the line of customers waiting behind, it may happen to accept this foreign currency by mistake. Whoever accidentally accepts this money must not put it back into circulation.

Fake money in exchange for jewelry. 650 thousand euro scam: two arrests

Two Spanish spouses residing in Madrid, had changed jewels of the highest quality – precisely quantified in 650 thousand euros in value – with fake banknotes with a “facsimile” inscription.

The two Spaniards were in Geneva to have the jewelry evaluated, when they were contacted by potential buyers. The meeting took place in Como. The two criminals showed the money, counted it with a money counter, closed it in a bag and then in a “24 hours briefcase”. The exchange was made in the lobby of a city center hotel. When the husband and wife opened the bag, however, they found only fake banknotes.

Buy fake money thinking it was real

The story is almost surreal. The restaurateur was approached some time ago by an African immigrant who offered him a deal. In fact, he offered to buy a box full of money for five thousand euros.

Obviously he told him that the total value was far greater than what he would spend. The only problem was that the bills were discolored. According to the story of the African immigrant, it would have been a ploy to import money into Europe without having it stolen. He also offered him a chemical reagent, capable of returning the banknotes to their former glory.

The scam continued with a practical demonstration. Except that the unfortunate rear-end collector did not realize that the other had replaced the discolored banknote with one that he kept in his pocket. And that was clearly true. So much so that the deceived restaurateur, before concluding the deal, went to the bank where he was confirmed that the money was not fake. So he bought, paying precisely five thousand euros, a box of fake money.

Briefcases exchanged and fake money

Posing as members of an important real estate group, they asked unsuspecting customers for a cash advance of 600 to 800 thousand euros to facilitate the purchase and sale negotiations. At that point a skilled member of the gang exchanged the briefcase of money for another equal where there were photocopied banknotes and the scammers disappeared into thin air.

The criminal group had been engaged for several years in the serial implementation of millionaire scams against real estate agents throughout the national territory. The exchange of the briefcases took place during the preliminary meeting for the signing of the contract. Immediately after the negotiations they were interrupted with an excuse and the group of scammers hurried away.

Counterfeit banknotes: the scam check on 50 euros

Fraudsters approach the cashier pretending to be agents in charge of verifying the shop for a fake 50 euros. The cashier trustingly delivers a bunch of banknotes. Quickly and without being discovered, the two accomplices make some banknotes disappear, only to reassure the shopkeeper that the money is all real.

When counting the bills, however, when the scammers have already left, the bitter surprise: several pieces are missing from the bunch.