The 70-year-old retiree who became America’s worst counterfeiter

[DGUtley]

The 70-year-old retiree who became America’s worst counterfeiter. - How a mystery man produced thousands of the ugliest counterfeit $1 bills ever made — and eluded federal agents for more than a decade.


In 1938, a New York cigar shop owner went to the bank to cash his daily profits. As the teller sifted through the haul, she spotted an unusual $1 bill. It felt like cheap paper in her hands, the lettering was askew, and George Washington looked more like an animated corpse than a noble head of state. It was, no doubt, the worst counterfeit she’d seen in all her years. The bill was sent to the United States Secret Service. Soon, thousands more just like it came pouring in, each more abysmal than the last. For 10 years, agents searched far and wide for the source, launching the most extensive (and expensive) counterfeit investigation in American history. The culprit was deemed to be “the most successful counterfeiter of modern times” — a mastermind.But the bills were made by no master: They were the work of a 73-year-old junk collector.


https://thehustle.co/worst-counterfe...istory-mr-880/


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[Lummy]

If the bills were that bad, I have to wonder why anyone accepted them. I don't look closely at money I put in my pocket as a rule, but if a bill felt odd, I probably would.

[Peter1469]

I got to try a case in the Army on counter-fitting. The Secret Service found out about it somehow (I don't know how) and sent some agents to Korea to investigate. They laughed when they saw the bills.

[Collateral Damage]

The counterfeits being passed now are quite often 'washes' - $1 bills being washed and reprinted as $20's, $50's and up. They've gotten really good at it.

Some other's however, are so blatant that we hold the employee who accepted it responsible for it (ie, write up) if we can track it. Since the majority of our sales are via credit card or debit card now, it's not hard to pinpoint when a $50 was transacted.

I guess that is one benefit to credit cards, even though we have our issues with fraud on those too.

[jigglepete]

The counterfeits being passed now are quite often 'washes' - $1 bills being washed and reprinted as $20's, $50's and up. They've gotten really good at it.

Some other's however, are so blatant that we hold the employee who accepted it responsible for it (ie, write up) if we can track it. Since the majority of our sales are via credit card or debit card now, it's not hard to pinpoint when a $50 was transacted.

I guess that is one benefit to credit cards, even though we have our issues with fraud on those too.

There was a gang operating up and down the East Coast, that was washing one dollar bills and printing fives on top, I mean who's going to check a five? But when someone pays for a five hundred dollar item with a stack of fives? Can you say alarm bells? I think that was why they got busted in the first place, incidentally they were taken down at the mall I was working at the time...

[Linux]

Aren't US ones kind of a big investment? Wouldn't Venezuelan Bolivars make more sense to wash?

The counterfeits being passed now are quite often 'washes' - $1 bills being washed and reprinted as $20's, $50's and up. They've gotten really good at it.
Some other's however, are so blatant that we hold the employee who accepted it responsible for it (ie, write up) if we can track it. Since the majority of our sales are via credit card or debit card now, it's not hard to pinpoint when a $50 was transacted.

I guess that is one benefit to credit cards, even though we have our issues with fraud on those too.

[Collateral Damage]

Aren't US ones kind of a big investment? Wouldn't Venezuelan Bolivars make more sense to wash?

I actually don't know if it's the same paper, ie, reaction to the counterfeit pens, but since the Venezuelan Bolivar is only worth the paper it's printed on, the answer would be yes.