How to Change Fake Money for Real Money

Why You Should Never Try to Learn How to Change Fake Money for Real Money: The Pitfalls of Counterfeiting

Do you want to learn how to change fake money for real money? It’s close to impossible. And before you pursue the answer, you need to know what exactly you’re getting yourself into. One must have an understanding of the characteristics of money in its current form in order to comprehend why it is susceptible to forgery.

Legal tender, such as money, is a representation of value but does not have any value of its own. If it was provided only as materials, the “paper and ink,” also known as the components that go into producing a dollar bill, could not be traded for an equivalent value in any other form. A couple of decades ago, legal tender could still be exchanged for gold, and gold had and still does have value in the industrial sector. Silver also retains its industrial value. Grain was also a currency at one time, and it was used to pay taxes and make payments. When city-states were just beginning to form, this was the case.

Today’s money is also known as fiat currency, which indicates that it is a representation of value that is backed by the full faith and credit of the government. Legal tender is generally referred to by the term ‘money.’ The amount of money that is in circulation can be altered by monetary authorities in countries that use their own currencies. In the United States, this authority is the Federal Reserve, and there are equivalent systems in other countries. These authorities change monetary policy and interest rates to stimulate the economy by making it simpler to obtain loans which will then be invested in productive endeavors, which necessitate the purchase of capital goods and the hiring of laborers. This will result in an increase in the number of dollars in circulation.

I won’t go into too much detail about the opposition to fiat currency, but I will say that I bring it up to answer this question because there are some things that are easy to fake and some things that are more difficult.

When gold was used as currency and before it was produced in the form of coins that were recognized, its economic value could be determined by weighing it and performing other types of tests to ensure that it was pure. This is fundamental chemistry. Counterfeiting is not limited to the use of paper currency. The specific reference escapes me at the moment, but it is common knowledge that the Emperors of Rome were known to debase gold and silver coins by mixing the precious metals with other types of more common ones. The human propensity to try to acquire wealth illegally dates back to the time when different tribes would rob one another of their food supplies and tools.

Paper currency can be counterfeited, but the United States Treasury Department is using new technologies to make it harder and harder to do so. However, it is still possible to reproduce paper money.

If this did not adequately answer your question, perhaps, then you are referring to a method of money laundering. People who try to conceal the origin of their income will make purchases with the money in order to keep its value and avoid wasting it. However, another way to look at it is that you are spreading the risk when you buy real money with fake money because you end up with real money. When cash changes hands, it is extremely difficult to determine who has possessed and utilized it in the past.

It is highly likely that a high-quality fake will recycle serial numbers that have already been used, but it is highly unlikely that a retailer will be able to scan a serial number and determine whether or not it is being used elsewhere in the economy. This provides those who produce counterfeit bills with an incentive to produce them and sell them for close to the full value of what the real dollars are worth.

What Makes Laundering Difficult?

Most people do not possess the necessary network of criminal contacts to move the counterfeits through the system. The Secret Service will be informed as soon as a bill arrives at a bank overnight because they will immediately recognize it as a forgery and flag it as such.

Therefore, if all of the notes are found in one location, it won’t be very difficult for the secret service to find the person who counterfeited them because all they have to do is question the individual who brought the notes to the bank in the first place.

On the other hand, if the notes are found in forty states and fifty countries, it is a LOT more difficult to track down the person who counterfeited them.

Can You Pass It Off in a Different Country?

In theory, using counterfeit money in another country might not be as difficult as it is here, but in practice, it could well be.

Because the circulation of counterfeit currency was an issue at one point in time, merchants in other countries are likely to be hypersensitive to the problem and less likely to accept any worn or older currency from the United States. This is something that can happen if you are actually conducting business in another country.

Customers of banks who transport cash internationally typically request only brand new bills because these bills are not worn, they all appear the same, and they contain all of the security features that allow potential merchants to more easily avoid counterfeit currency.

The fear that unfriendly nations such as North Korea, Iran, and Syria were producing counterfeits that were impossible to differentiate from the original design of the traditional 100-dollar bill led to a drastic redesign of currency that began years ago. This fear continues to drive the United States Treasury to redesign the bill every few years with improved safety features.

What Are the Laws Governing Counterfeiting?

Criminal offenses that involve the use of counterfeit currency are considered felonies under federal law. The maximum sentence for these offenses is twenty years in prison, in addition to a monetary fine. Regardless of the defendant’s connection to the counterfeit money, they are still subject to the maximum possible sentence. 

In other words, whether you produced the counterfeit money, attempted to spend it, or were simply caught with the fake money in your possession, you run the risk of receiving a sentence of twenty years in prison from the judge who hears your case.

What if you were unaware that the money you were handling was counterfeit? Is it not an extreme example of injustice to sentence someone to twenty years in prison for the simple act of buying something with cash that they honestly believed was legal? It is not fair, but things like this do occur occasionally. 

In 2017, criminal charges were brought against Syed Ali of Houston after he used a counterfeit ten-dollar bill to pay for food at a Taco Bell. Ali had gotten the bill from his father, who had gotten it as change after making a purchase at Home Depot. He was accused of forgery, which carries a sentence that can range anywhere from two to ten years in prison.

If the prosecution can prove that you possessed criminal intent at the time of the offense, then they will be able to convict you of counterfeit money charges. In other words, they will have to prove that you knew the money was fake and intended to make the recipient believe that it was real. There are a lot of defendants who try to argue that they were unaware the money was fake, but this defense does not always work in their favor. 

For instance, the defense won’t work if the bill looks so obviously fake that there’s no way you could have believed that it was real. You simply couldn’t have done that. It is possible that the prosecution will argue that the cashier reported that you were acting suspiciously to the police; however, “acting suspiciously” is a term that is open to interpretation. You should not ask for the bill to be returned if the cashier informs you that it is counterfeit; this could be used as evidence against you in court. 

If a bill in your wallet appears to be counterfeit, you should not attempt to use it to buy anything. If you find out that a bill is counterfeit after spending it, you need to contact a lawyer as soon as possible.

What Happens When Everyone Learns How to Change Fake Money For Real Money?

The circulation of counterfeit currency in a country can have a domino effect of negative consequences for the economic system of that nation. Allow us to explain them in a straightforward and condensed fashion. The following is a list of some of the effects:

1. Inflation of the currency occurs when a large number of counterfeit currency notes are in circulation. This leads to an increase in the demand for goods and commodities. As a result, there is a scarcity of commodities, which leads to an increase in price due to the fact that supply cannot satisfy demand. People now have to pay a greater amount of money for the same products. Devaluation of a currency occurs when this happens.
2. The failure of banks to make reimbursements is likely to result in significant financial losses for the nation’s most important companies and industries. As soon as the banks are made aware that counterfeit money was used in significant business transactions, the banks take immediate action to seize the currency in question. However, the majority of the time, the businesses that lose money do not receive compensation for their losses. This results in significant losses, which may have an effect on them either immediately or over the course of time.
3. People will choose cheaper products because they are unable to afford to buy more expensive ones, so they will buy whatever they can get for the same price. Other nations immediately begin dumping their cheaper products on the market at an obviously reduced price. This has a further negative impact on the economy of the country.

There are a great number of other unfavorable effects, such as the illegal marketing of goods and a decline in public confidence in the economy of a country, among many others.

Conclusion

While the temptation to learn how to change fake money for real money for profit during the coming economic downturn is real, the cons far outweigh the pros. You could ruin your life and reputation and those of your loved ones too. Jail time isn’t pretty, and having the federal government on your tail is even less so. Stay safe. Don’t do this.