Reddit mentions: The best counterfeit bill detectors

For appointments, I recommend getting a slashproof bag with locking cable. Once you've received the cash, test it for counterfeits. Then put it (and other valuables) in the bag, and lock the bag to the plumbing under the bathroom sink.

For traveling between locations, use a money belt or a stash bra. I recommend keeping a decoy wallet with some cash and expired cards in it, so that if you are mugged, you can give them your decoy, while keeping the rest of your cash safe.

For storing cash at home, I'd make one or more "pipesafes" with some black iron pipe. Wrap and band the cash, then put it in a fire resistant bag. Then put it in the pipe, and plug the pipe with a pair of "test plugs". You can see what I mean at this instructable for making a survival cache with PVC pipe.

I recommend using black iron pipe instead of PVC because it provides some fire resistance, but you can use PVC pipe instead. You can find black iron pipe at hardware stores, and "test plugs" can be ordered online or purchased through plumbing supply stores.

Split up your money among several "pipesafes" in different locations around your apartment. That way, if you're ever robbed, the thieves may find some of your money, but they probably won't find all of your money. The best places to hide your pipesafes will vary from location to location, so you'll want to size them to fit in your preferred hiding spaces.

Be sure to write down your pipesafe locations somewhere! You will forget where they are!
I recommend storing them as a note in bitwarden, then give your bitwarden account info to a trusted friend or relative. That way, if you die or get sick/injured, your loved ones can find them and access your funds.

Why not a safe, you might ask? A safe can also work. However, thieves know to look for safes. If the safe is portable, they can just tear it out of the wall and walk out with it.

If the safe is heavy enough to prevent easy transport, then it will be a pain the butt for you to move as well. Most sex workers are young, and move or travel frequently. Pipesafes can be moved relatively easily. Plus, you could leave them behind if need be, as they're not that expensive to make.

How much cash should you keep on hand? That will vary depending on your circumstances and risk tolerance.

Personally, I would first build up a cash emergency fund of about $5 K for unexpected expenses, like car repair, "get out of dodge money" (stalker, legal action), medical bills, etc. Top up this fund as you make payouts from it.

Next, I would pre-pay a $5 K retainer with criminal defense attorney who has successfully defended a number of sex work cases. If you're ever in legal trouble, the cops may freeze your assets, making it difficult to hire someone to defend you. Prostitution / solicitation cases cost between $5 - $25 K to defend, so pre-paying at least enough to get started is a good idea.

Eventually, however, you'll probably want to deposit much of your cash in a bank account. If you ever want to purchase a house or car, having an established history of regular cashflow will be necessary. A bank account also makes it much easier to interface with the rest of the financial system.

However, any funds you deposit will become known to the IRS. So you should expect to pay taxes on those funds. You'll need to set aside around 30% of those funds for tax payments.

As an anti-money laundering and anti-tax avoidance measure, banks are required to report cash deposits / withdrawals (called a Cash Transaction Report for CTR) greater than $10000 to the government. Most banks have systems that send these reports automatically, electronically, along with your tax information.

Bank staff can optionally flag and any cash transaction as "suspicious", known as a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR). For example, they might flag a deposit as "suspicious" if they think it was artificially structured to avoid the reporting requirement. (For example, making four deposits of $2499 in a 24 hour period might cause them to make a SAR.)

Due to previous government crackdowns on politically unpopular groups (gun dealers, payday loan vendors, sex workers), banks and other financial institutions are particularly skittish about providing services to sex workers.

So, if you suddenly start making a lot of cash deposits, the bank will likely ask you the source of your funds. If you don't have a good answer, they may close your account. So, be sure to have a plausible story for the source of the cash before you start making significant deposits.

Brokerages, currency exchanges, precious metals dealers and other financial institutions have similar Know Your Customer / Anti-Money Laundering regulations.

For counterfeit bills, you can just get one of those testing pens that you've probably seen some stores use. I'm pretty sure Staples carries these in store if you want to just pick one up locally. Those are plenty good enough. You're not going to get a master counterfeiter trying to buy your old bike.

For the transfer, I don't know about NJ, but in PA there are "Auto Tags" places all over that function as notaries and will handle everything for you: title transfer, DMV registration, etc. However, they do charge their own fees on top of whatever the normal DMV fees are, so you'll have to make sure the seller is ok with that. Also, at least in PA, you must have proof of insurance to register, so make sure the seller has contacted an insurance company beforehand and has it ready to go.

Craigslist. Meet during the day in a coffee shop/restaurant or inside of a mall where you know there are security cameras. Parking lots should be avoided simply because it allows for an easy exit if they try to grab and go. Make sure YOU pick the place. Take a friend as well. If they don't show up with the exact amount of money you agreed upon just walk away.

Count the money several times and buy yourself this to make sure it isn't funny money.
If the buyer starts giving you shit for checking the currency don't worry about it, you'll never see that person again. Don't hand over the goods(which your friend is holding) till you got the full amount and have checked/counted it.

You should get yourself some UV lamps like these for your cash registers.

http://www.amazon.com/Cassida-Conterfeit-Money-Dectector-M-18/dp/B007LI26FG/ref=sr_1_4?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1383178333&sr=1-4

They are much more reliable than the pens. Each bill denomination has a different color UV reflective thread to allow for quick identification under UV light.

As an added bonus credit cards have uv reflective counterfeit counter-indications as well.

+/u/changetip @throwthisoneout2 $0.20 verify| good call and this marker is your best friend (except for maybe mace or similar) ESPECIALLY if you make bank/credit union deposits...and simply doing it front of most people makes you look "pro/legit". just say it's nothing personal, which, it isn't

http://www.amazon.com/Dri-Mark-Counterfeit-Detector-Currency-351B1/dp/B00006IE9P

Amazon best seller.

If the bonus pack at $8.30 (prime eligible) is beyond your means, they give them way at your local 7-11. Don't ask for it, 7-11 respects your privacy. Just reach across the counter and take the pen. The cashier will nod and give you a look that says, "I'm with you, the struggle is real"

We have machines in the US too. They are just not very common from what I've seen. Pens are cheaper, and companies are even cheaper.


These 3 styles are the ones I've seen most often. Maybe not the exact model, but definitely these around a lot. The UV one seems to be the most common, lots of grocery stores around me have them. But I went to Target, or some store like that, (can't remember exactly) and they had the actual scanner where they had to feed each bill in 1 at a time. It's so fucking slow.

https://www.amazon.com/AccuBanker-D63-Counterfeit-Ultraviolet-Watermark/dp/B002JGKTLS/

https://www.amazon.com/Cassida-Quattro-Orientation-Automatic-Counterfeit/dp/B017OHZV1E/

https://www.amazon.com/Royal-Sovereign-Ultraviolet-Magnetic-Counterfeit/dp/B001ACVO1Q/

Happy cake-day!

Drimark Dual Test UV Counterfeit Detector Thank you for the contest!

I’ve been (foolishly) buying/ selling things on OfferUp and Craigslist for over a year without using or seeing a counterfeit pen. Recently, I went to buy something for $10 and the lady pulls one out! I felt so dumb because I never thought to use one sooner, but glad that I finally got the idea to get one.

I just picked this one up from Staples, they priced matched to amazon and 10% of the difference.

https://www.amazon.com/Drimark-Dual-Detector-Bonus-351UVB/dp/B0053Y5Q8Y

https://www.staples.com/sbd/content/help-center/pricing-and-promotions.html#10003_6

Verify the contents are authentic.

Don't put it in the bank (unless it's a safety deposit box) and keep it to yourself.

Can maybe get a pen like this https://www.amazon.com/Drimark-Dual-Detector-Bonus-351UVB/dp/B0053Y5Q8Y/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1522686440&sr=8-3&keywords=bill+authenticator+pen

Somewhere probably sells in cheaper in store

[How to validate a SDs credentials] (https://www.amazon.com/Drimark-Counterfeit-Detector-Pen-Cap/dp/B0053Y5Q8Y/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1542044581&sr=8-4&keywords=counterfit+money+pen)

Pack of 5 G-Star Technology Counterfeit Detector Pen Marker Set https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AYNRNMU/

You're right! (5) of them for $6 is surprising.

The Secret Service is the gov't entity that deals with counterfeit bills, fyi.

We use this at my restaurant, with zero issues.

this is a counterfeit bill detector

https://www.amazon.com/Counterfeit-Detector-Currency-Blacklight-Spreezie/dp/B015NQIJ8U/

the UV is to check for UV markers in currency

the magstrip reader looking thing is to read embedded magstrips in certain currencies

https://patents.google.com/patent/US4518919

edit: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XWTY4YE/ref=psdc_490854011_t4_B015NQIJ8U same color, different branding, but most likely same manufacturer

There's no rule against you checking bills you get. There are markers (plenty others similar to this one) to help too.

You might want to invest in a counterfeit bill pen detector when you sell the MoBoard.
http://www.amazon.com/Dri-Mark-Counterfeit-Detector-Currency-351B1/dp/B00006IE9P

$4.44 is a small price to pay to not loose $290 :(

But myself I'd do ebay or something, Because the muns are E-Trans'd before you even send the damn thing. And you can't counterfeit electronic money... as easily as real money i guess.

All US Bills are printed with magnetic ink. It is actually designed to help with counting large stacks of bills and no so much for counterfeit testing, but it can still be useful.

If you have a small but strong magnet, such as a neodymium magnet, you can lift a real bill - not enough to make it fly off a table, but you can definitely tell if it is magnetic.

If you really want to freak someone out, you can pull out one of these bad boys.

The pens are relatively useless.

> 30$- Bill Money Detector with UV Counterfeit Detection and Free Counterfeit Detection Pen https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07K7KV6TB/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_h.o2Db7MY8G5T

Pays for itself 3 times over for the first fake Benjamin.

If your mr. money bags you can get one that counts for you too.

> 100$ - Kolibri Bishop 2-in-1 Counterfeit Money Detector and Bill Counter with UV, MG and IR Detection https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0788XWV38/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_cdp2DbYQQ7937

https://www.amazon.com/TIHOO-Counterfeits-Detector-Counterfeit-Checker/dp/B07MSHH1ST/ref=sr_1_10?crid=VN3M068ZNMMS&keywords=marker+for+counterfeit+money&qid=1571701812&sprefix=marker+for+coun%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-10
Maybe?

Venden bolígrafos que cambia de color dependiendo de si es de verdad o falsificado como este.

It's kind of garbage quality but I bought this one but it gets the job done. ymmv

That's why some companies are switching from pens that test the paper to pens that test the ink.

http://www.amazon.com/Dri-Mark-Counterfeit-Detector-Currency-351B1/dp/B00006IE9P/

I haven't had any issues, but I am not in a large city. I do carry a counterfeit pen that has a UV light on it. Normally, I check a few bills with the pen and look for the watermark or use the UV light.

Pen makes a mark that turns a certain color if it reacts with a starch. US currency has no starch, but our paper does.

Example: http://www.amazon.com/Counterfeit-Money-Detector-Marker-Buy1get1FREE/dp/B001F02XAY

why not just save 245 dollars and get a pen instead?

More or less, a marker that shows a color on real money, something else on fakes:

https://www.amazon.com/MoneyTrust-Counterfeit-pen-detector-counterfeit/dp/B073RZMDC6/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=money+pen&qid=1557187929&s=gateway&sr=8-6

^some random example

invest a few bucks in stuff to see if stuff is counterfeit.. no, not just the pens... Asked to be paid only in 20s and no hundred dollar bills. Yes, 20s are common counterfeit, but no one checks them.. some banks do, so i recommend keeping the money in cash. Most of all, don't be afraid to be judgmental. If someone comes by to buy something and really seems like they have no interest in it but to flip it, then just say that you fell back in love with it and dont wish to sell.... make sure you have other people present too, again, being judgmental, people who may appear slightly intimidating or not to be fucked with.

Heres an example...
Guy comes in to buy an $8000 instrument... you show him the instrument and he has no clue how to use it at all, or what anything does albeit maybe some bullshitting like calling out things that are right in front of him.

What qualifies as bullshit? Well if I'm showing someone a vintage (and expensive) analog synth and they see the printing that says "filter" and they say "oh yeah and this has the filter!" instead of like "Oh yes, the JP8 has a wonderful low pass filter..." or is they just don't give a shit in general about this huge purchase

If they seem full of shit, get sellers remorse and don't sell. They can't stop you.. again, intimidating friend around to make sure they wont rob you (they wont rob you)

If they're cool, then just ask for everything in 20s and dont be afraid to count the money as many times as you need to. Also check them for counterfeit with above mentioned tools. If they have the money to drop, they know how having a lot of money feels, and won't care that you're covering your ass. If they get offended tell them to fuck off and then just wait for the next buyer.

Do not offer returns, often expensive sellers do... don't. You'll never be able to sell it.

Also, I've heard of people going to the bank with the buyer (following in car) and have the money withdrawn in front of them. For big numbers, it's not bad form.


TL;DR Be really anal about the money and cover your own ass. if they buyer doesn't like it tell them to fuck off. Also buy this

http://www.amazon.com/AccuBanker-D63-Counterfeit-Ultraviolet-Watermark/dp/B002JGKTLS/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1409466998&sr=8-6&keywords=counterfeit+detector


Source: Deals in expensive instruments

5-Pack Counterfeit Pens - Fake Money Detector Markers from Entrust Pro https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DSKG5ZW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_lq0XDb0MZ0Z1S

Problem solved!

To be honest, I really don't see what the big deal is. I work in a bank, and the amount of shopkeepers that come in complaining about people trying to pay with Scotch notes is ridiculous. You don't know how to check them for fakes? You check them in exactly the same way you check English notes.

If you're really unsure, get a money checker pen, they're £3.99 on Amazon and they work on English, Scotch, Irish, 50's and old series notes.

As a side note, if you handle money for all or part of the day (as I did when I worked in a shop), it becomes pretty damn easy to spot fakes, mainly because the paper feels wrong.

This is a scam.

You deposit the check, your account balance goes up. You pay out the money. The check comes back fake. Your account balance goes down. You're out the money.

It's not so much that the check gets cancelled, but due to various laws the banks have to make the money available to you in a certain time frame, but the check won't necessarily be returned as invalid in that time frame.

If the check was merely cancelled it would be an awful scam, because that means the check was real and you can find out who the person at the other end actually is. But the check is fake, and so it becomes much harder to track down the scammer.

>so what information should I collect to protect myself

Cold hard cash. If they're sending personal movers for the item, tell the buyer to send them the check and exchange the computer for cash when they come to pick it up. They will immediately back out. Because there are no movers. Nobody will show up for the computer.

On the off chance they don't back out, order a counterfit bill pen.

https://www.amazon.com/Counterfeit-Money-Bill-Detector-Markers/dp/B07HBKDD3K/