Announcing the BEST Counterfeit Detector Guarantee in the Industry

We are proud to announce our new C3300  Counterfeit Detector with COUNTERFEIT SHIELD which is the best counterfeit detector guarantee in the industry. 

Counterfeit Shield Guarantee
Our state of the art technology will protect you against any counterfeits made anywhere in the world. We back that promise with our Counterfeit Shield Guarantee: We will reimburse you the full face value of the counterfeit bill should your detector accept it as genuine. See brochure for more information.

More Information on the C-3300 Counterfeit Detector

Counterfeit Pens Are Not a Good way to Detect Fake Money

Making and passing counterfeit currency is a multimillion dollar industry. With inexpensive inkjet printers and computers it is an easy business to get into. Almost anybody can print fake money.  Retail associates are not properly equipped to recognize fake bills and most often the bills are not identified as fake until they reach the bank.

     Many retailers depend on counterfeit detection pens to check larger bills at their cash registers. These pens are not the best way to catch counterfeit bills. The pens use iodine to react chemically with the starch found in papers made from wood pulp, but real money is not printed on paper made from wood pulp. You swipe the pen across the bill and if it the iodine reacts with starch the mark will turn black and identify the bills as fake. If the mark remains yellow or clear the bill is genuine. This will catch the amateur who prints money on an inkjet printer with cheap paper, but it will not catch the professional counterfeiter who can obtain high quality cotton paper that does not use starch.  Another way to get real paper to print bills on is to bleach (“wash”) smaller bills then use the resulting blank paper to print a larger bill. Pens can also be fooled by using hair spray or fabric softener to coat fake bills.

     There are many better solutions. The easiest and cheapest solution is to train associates to identify a fake bill by holding it up to the light and looking at the watermark. All US bills have a watermark of the face on the bill to the right of the printed face. The watermark face can be seen by holding the bill up to bright light or sunlight. The face on the watermark must match the face on the bill. Another inexpensive solution is a ultraviolet detector. Placing the bill into the ultraviolet detector will quickly identify fake bills. Also available are hand held flashlight type ultra violet detectors.  One more option is an automatic bill detector. These run around $300 and you simply place the bill into the machine at the point of sale and it checks the bill and feeds it back to you.

     If you identify a fake bill do not return it to the customer. Retain the bill and call local authorities. If this is not possible then try to remember a detailed description of the suspect and their vehicle and report the crime to law enforcement. To attempt to pass a fake bill on after you accept it is a crime.

     Relying on a cheap counterfeit detection pen to identify counterfeit money is not going to work. There are much better ways to protect  yourself from fake money. Put a plan in place today and train your employees on how to protect your business.Check out our Counterfeit Detectors

What You Must Know About Large Cash Payments to Your Business

Many small business owners are totally unaware that they are breaking the law when they accept cash payments over $10,000. What they do not know could cost them huge fines from the IRS. Under IRS rules, if a business accepts a cash payment of $10,000 or more for a single transaction, they must report it by filing a form 8300 within 15 days of the transaction. This form can be filed online or on paper. Additionally , the business is required to notify the person from whom they accepted the payment no later than January 31 of the year following the filing.

The penalties for not filing can be huge. The intentional disregard penalty for failure to report is the greater of $25,000 or the amount of cash received in such transaction not to exceed $100,000. Failure to file a timely return can run $50 to $100 per transaction. The aggregate annual limitation (ceiling) in the case of businesses with gross receipts exceeding $5 million is $1,500,000. For businesses with gross receipts not exceeding $5 million, the aggregate annual limitation is $500,000.

Breaking a transaction into two payments does not allow you to avoid filing. The IRS counts more than one payment related to one transaction as still being subject to the $10,000 limitation. For example, if a business sold a tractor and received a $7,000 cash deposit on the order, delivered the tractor some time later and received the $5,000 balance as cash, that would be counted as a $12,000 transaction and requires the filing of a form 8300 . It is not necessary to report transactions using cashiers checks or money orders, but any form of cash or coin is subject to the limitations.

If a business sells a customer an item for $9,000 cash one month and a month later the same customer buys a totally different item for cash, that is considered two separate transactions and not subject to filing. However, if the two sales happened within a 24 hour period they would be subject to the limitation. If a business leases a space to someone who pays $2,000 a month rent in cash and the total cash rent paid during a calendar year exceeds $10,000 , then that is subject to the limitation because it is all related to one transaction.

It gets rather tricky sometimes to determine when the limit has been exceeded. When in doubt consult your accountant or the IRS website for further definition, or you can call the IRS for advice. Form 8300 can be obtained online or wherever you get IRS forms. It can also be filed electronically online. Be careful to always report these transactions within 15 days. Better to be safe than sorry. Please be sure to visit our site for Money Counters

How to Clean a Currency Counter

Cleaning a currency counter will extend the life of the machine, reduce service calls and improve the efficiency of the machine. However, an improper cleaning can do more harm than good so it is very important that it be done properly. Machine should be cleaned weekly.

To properly clean a money counter you need a source of compressed air. This can be canned air which can be purchased from any office supply store or from you money counter supply company or you can use a air compressor to supply the compress air, a bill counter cleaning card and a lint free cloth.

Waffle Cleaning Card

Canned Air

Start out by removing power and wiping the machine surfaces down with a lint free cloth. Then use the compressed air to blow out the dust throughout the machine. Blow the air into all the openings on the machine including openings in the bottom plate.  This will remove dust from all the sensors and from the rollers and inside the machine. Then re-attach the power to the machine and turn it on. Run a few bills through the machine. Open the cleaning card foil packet and insert the card into the machine much the same as you would insert a bill into the machine. The card will run through the machine and clean the wheels and sensors along the way. If the card is especially dirty when it exits the machine then consider running a second card through. Never re-run the same card through the machine more than once.

Now you are finished. If possible keep the machine powered off and covered by a dust cover during extended periods on non-use. Your Currency Counter should last you for years if properly maintained.