Cops issue warning over fake cash

| 05/12/2012

(CNS): With counterfeit versions of the KYD$25 note found to be circulating officers from the financial crimes unit of the RCIPS are warning shoppers and businesses to be on the look out for fake cash this Christmas season. The latest dud notes are forgeries of the new Cayman Islands Monetary Authority 2010 series and they all have the serial number D/1113950 on the front. These notes look exactly like thereal thing but do not have the usual security features present on the real thing. “We don’t want anyone to lose out this Christmas by picking up fake cash with their shopping,” said Detective Inspector Livingston Bailey of the FCU.

“I’m appealing to the public and to businesses to be particularly vigilant. The shops are getting busier and people are rushing around trying to pick up some Christmas bargains – but don’t get conned into accepting fake notes as genuine currency,” he added.

The RCIPS said business owners need to ensure that their staff is familiar with the look and feel of genuine notes, as well as the security features to look out for such as paper quality, watermarks and the metallic strips. If retail staff receive a fake note, or one they suspect to be counterfeit, they should note the description of the person passing the note, as well as any companion. The note should not be returned to the passer. The person receiving the note should initial it and date it close to the edge, then tag the note with a copy of the transaction receipt and call the police.

Anyone who is found to be involved in the production or circulation of counterfeit cash could face up to ten years behind bars. In addition, anyone who receives a note which they believe to be fake must contact the police immediately as it is a criminal offence to retain or pass on the note. DI Bailey added anyone who is in possession of a note that’s found to be counterfeit will not be compensated, so those few extra seconds spent checking the cash before you accept it could prevent you from losing out financially.

Police urged people to pay attention to the feel of the paper on which notes are printed as genuine notes are printed on special paper that has a rough texture. Counterfeit notes have a smooth texture and will smudge or smear when exposed to water. They advise people who think that they have been given a forged note tto compare it to one that you know is genuine.

Retail staff are asked to put as much information as possible on counterfeit report forms about the person passing the note and write it on the form and to secure any CCTV footage of the transaction and the passer.
 
The RCIPS form for reporting counterfeit money can be found on the CIMA website www.cimoney.com.ky

 

Category: Crime

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Faux money is being made right here on one of the Islands.  By guess who?  and guess which Island.  Not Grand Cayman.

    • Real World Calling says:

      I bet it is on Little Cayman.  By the iguanas.  Those iguanas are shifty.  They hang around in bars.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Let us get this straight.

    Shops and so on accepting these fake bills HAVE to accept them and HAVE to keep a copy of the receipt given to the person passing the fake bill, and HAVE to presumably give change on transactions less than KYD25. So not only do they lose the KYD25 note they accepted (which they will not get compensated for), they have lost the value of the goods sold or "illegally taken" plus the change they had to give.

    Whoever thought that one out needs a Doctorate Degree from UCCI!!!

    It just is not gonna happen, people will just pass them on again otherwise they potentially more than double their loss. CIMA should be thinking up a better scheme than that. Compensating or assisting people who assist in catching thieves, rather than punishing them, and punishing them twice!!!

    • Real World Calling says:

      No, that is not the advice at all.  The retailer has to retain the note.  It does not have to honour it or give value for it.  If the person using the note wishes to claim it is real then the police will no doubt make a determination.

      • Anonymous says:

        That is understood, but the reality is that the person then passing the bill can claim theft, particularly if he/she had no idea that the bill was fake…a tourist for example. And how many times do we check what change we are given at the till? Very rarely…

         

        Also, if the bill is passed by a large and agressive man to an innocent lady sales assistant, does she really have to risk a beating because the law is crazy??

        • Anonymous says:

          They could not claim theft because their is a need for a dishonest deprivation and there would be none on these facts.

          • Thumbelina says:

            How can you "troll" an accurate statement of an element of the offence of theft?

            • Anonymous says:

              We Trolls can troll whoever we want. Its part of being a troll, no prejudice against anyone, we just get out there and troll everyone and anyone. No brain needed. No thought needed.