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[i am bob]

ATMs are one of the worse places for getting counterfeit bills

Having never had that happen to me or anyone I know, either closely or remotely, I find that a difficult statement to swallow. Perhaps it deserves a new topic but it certainly deserves more explanation than just a 'knowing wink'.

Dave, if you read the whole thing, you should have seen my reference to a money laundering seminar I attended. Anyone can attend these seminars though, in Canada, it is a requirement to attend if you are working in Financial Services. And, yes, the course made reference to this being an issue world wide and specifically in South Asia. I apologize for not researching links for things that have been discussed in depth in other places but I only have my phone to access the net for the next few days. So, if anyone wants to Google " ATM money laundering " and then read through the thousands of entries that will tell you how ATMs are the new leading method of money laundering... There are different ways it is done but the easiest one to remember are that, in any country, any privately owned ATM is suspect as it is maintained and filled by who ever is tasked to. Bank owned machine? Is anybody watching closely the person who fills the machine? Apparently not that closely in the Philippines! Or in many countries throughout the world! Swap out the good bills for bad and away they go! Not stacks but a couple large bills mixed into the stack. Or it may be done before the stacks get out of the counting room. Sometimes machines are topped up by using cash from deposits to that machine. This way the maintenance crew (our person) isn't walking around with cash in their hand. Envelopes are ripped open and amounts verified and then the desired bills are dropped back into the hopper to be redistributed. If the bills in that envelope were tainted...

If you haven't had this happen to you or anyone else that you know, you are either a lucky guy or are spending way too much time behind your keyboard... Go blow the dust off that ATM card of yours, go pull a couple pesos out of a machine somewhere and have yourself a nice cold San Magoo or two!

Sent by using a very long piece of string, a couple tin cans, 2 gaseous monkeys, Tapatalk and my Nexus 4

[Dave Hounddriver]

. So, if anyone wants to Google " ATM money laundering "

 

Yah I did that before commenting but it was no help.  So I have to ask.  Has ANYONE reading this ever been a victim of a counterfeit bill in an ATM in South East Asia?  Anyone reading this ever known anyone to be a victim?  Anyone ever read in the local newspaper of it happening?

 

I cannot say you are wrong, Bob, but I can say that when it happens as you suggest then it seems to be hushed up pretty good.

[the_whipster]

in maybe 12 years on a multitude of different travel and expat - type forums about a lot of Asian countries, in which people have mentioned all sorts of crimes, nobody has ever reported being issued a fake banknote by an ATM.  Nobody. Not one time. It is something i would remember if they had. I was under the impression that as soon as they reach banks, even in less developed countries, counterfeits are taken out of circulation by using sorting machines with multiple sensors which detect the sound, look and feel of banknotes. I have a shop that takes cash money only and inevitably there have been a few times, not all that many, when I have been duped by fake banknotes as well as many more times, when I have refused to take banknotes I thought were fake. Twice I have been paying in cash to a bank and they have said sorry sir this note is a forgery and we have to confiscate it. They were £10 notes both times too, even though 95% of the fake banknotes in the UK, are £20s. I always examine £20 notes closely, £10s less so.  

[i am bob]

. So, if anyone wants to Google " ATM money laundering "

Yah I did that before commenting but it was no help. So I have to ask. Has ANYONE reading this ever been a victim of a counterfeit bill in an ATM in South East Asia? Anyone reading this ever known anyone to be a victim? Anyone ever read in the local newspaper of it happening?

I cannot say you are wrong, Bob, but I can say that when it happens as you suggest then it seems to be hushed up pretty good.

Dave, Dave, Dave... Check your spelling maybe? I don't know what else to say... Here in Canada I Googled exactly what I said before. 38 pages returned before I quit counting and the very first item was exactly what I was talking about. Switched from Google.ca to Google.ph and tried again. Almost identical results with the fourth item talking about bank ATMs and counterfeit bills. So how is this being hushed up? Maybe your computer is keeping secrets from you?

Sent from my Samsung Tab 3 by Tapatalk, 6 talking Parrots, Jungle Drummers and one mean Gibson RD Standard fretless bass slapped silly...

[Dave Hounddriver]

.. Here in Canada I Googled exactly what I said before

 

Arrr there's the problem.  Here in the Philippines we are automatically linked to Google Philippines which will give us different results.

 

EDIT:  BUT . .  I did it again and realized that the last search I had added 'counterfeit' in my search and that changes the results.

 

Lots of stuff about money laundering but still did not find anything referring to getting counterfeit bills out of an ATM in SE Asia.  Oh well.  I will continue to use my ATM card as usual.

 

EDIT AGAIN:  AND I did find a reference to counterfeit bills being 'deposited' into an ATM but you need not worry about that in Philippines as ATMs that accept deposits are rare as hen's teeth.  Perhaps that is why.

Edited May 9, 2014 by Dave Hounddriver

[the_whipster]

there are only so many places where somebody can get hold of a 1000 peso bill. They cannot be given as change, like 500s can. The last place a counterfeiter would surely want to distribute fake 1000 bills, has got to be a bank. There would be lines of people outside that same bank in no time at all, wherever it is, complaining that they were given fake bills from it. They would know that the 1000 bills they were given could not have come from anywhere else.

[i am bob]

Well, Dave, I don't know why you can't get the same results as I do. I told you I did this on both Google.ca and Google.ph (Google Philippines) yet you missed this. and basically called me inept. Then you wrote that you took the word "corrupt" out of your search string and you in about how wrong I am because you still get a different answer... Funny... My results are still the same as day one. Maybe you should try to read this again to see where you screwed up. Or ask your As for me? I'm done with listening this crap.

Sent by using a very long piece of string, a couple tin cans, 2 gaseous monkeys, Tapatalk and my Nexus 4

[Dave Hounddriver]

yet you missed this. and basically called me inept

 

Perhaps that is a little harsh.  I simply asked for proof of ANY kind that ANYONE had ever got a counterfeit note from an ATM in the Philippines.  Still waiting.

[i am bob]

I'm sorry Dave. I should have had the NBI stop by your house with all their facts and figures so you might believe something. I showed this whole string you wrote to my neighbor and he asked me what I did to piss you off so badly. So maybe you should take a good look at what you wrote and how you wrote it. Or do you need proof that you wrote that?

Sent by using a very long piece of string, a couple tin cans, 2 gaseous monkeys, Tapatalk and my Nexus 4

[Dave Hounddriver]

I showed this whole string you wrote to my neighbor and he asked me what I did to piss you off so badly.

 

Sure, I'll reread what I wrote, but I can tell you I don't feel pissed off.  A little aggravated when someone says something that I do not believe they can substantiate and then calls me out when I mention it, that's all.  If I did not value your opinion I would never have asked for validation.  But I seriously expected you to have your facts in order and just drop in a link.

 

Tell your neighbor I said hi and he is invited to join.  Its a great forum and I still like you, Bob, even if you are grumpy with me  :cheers: