5 ms·

You can't falsify banknotes with regular printers and regular paper, but you may need to scan and print them for some art project in which case you should just

You can't falsify banknotes with regular printers and regular paper, but you may need to scan and print them for some art project in which case you should just use Linux and avoid those silly protection measures.

cstross 11y ago
Ahem: you can't falsify banknotes with regular printers and commodity paper well enough to fool an alert human being, but the scanners in some vending machines are another matter. With 7 colour 1200+ dpi inkjets readily available for photo printing, if you could find a vaguely passable source of paper you could do wonders -- and one option forgers have used is to take low value notes and bleach them before overprinting with a higher denomination print pattern. (I think this is the rationale for high-denomination Euro banknotes -- €50 and above -- having embedded RFID chips.)
- raverbashing 11y ago
  > used is to take low value notes and bleach them before overprinting with a higher denomination print pattern. (I > think this is the rationale for high-denomination Euro banknotes -- €50 and above -- having embedded RFID chips. Citation needed You can't take a lower denomination bank-note and print a higher denomination one on an Euro note: the sizes are different (of course, maybe you can pass one note for the next in sequence, but it is slightly harder) Also no RFID is mentioned here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_banknotes#Security_features https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_banknotes#Security_featur...
  - reacweb 11y ago
    RFID are not yet used: http://www.fleur-de-coin.com/eurocoins/banknote-rfid http://www.fleur-de-coin.com/eurocoins/banknote-rfid
  - arethuza 11y ago
    I always thought the coolest thing about Euro notes is their use of traces of the element Europium: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europium https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europium
- JoeAltmaier 11y ago
  Night guard at work came to the front desk one night, pockets jangling with quarters. "Did you know the change machine will accept a photocopied bill?" Desk called the police, who called the FBI who came and took him away. Never saw him again.
  - jccalhoun 11y ago
    The Secret Service deals with counterfeit money not the FBI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secret_Service https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secret_Service
    - JoeAltmaier 11y ago
      Hm. I guess officially. Yet they were FBI. Here's another case: https://www.fbi.gov/minneapolis/press-releases/2010/mp052010a.htm https://www.fbi.gov/minneapolis/press-releases/2010/mp052010... and it says "This case was the result of an investigation by the U.S. Secret Service, the Minneapolis Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation."
- hiharryhere 11y ago
  Also another reason to have notes with different dimensions. The 5 euro note is tiny... nobody is gonna mistake that for a 50.
alkonaut 11y ago
> you should just use Linux and avoid those silly protection measures I think the protection is often done in the hardware (firmware), not drivers. At least it has to be for any printer/scanner that can work as a standalone copier.
- noja 11y ago
  Photoshop does it in software (unless you import from an existing file).
- stefantalpalaru 11y ago
  It was not done in hardware for the scanners and printers I've owned so far.
  - gpvos 11y ago
    You checked this on all of them? That's some dedication, for sure.
    - stefantalpalaru 11y ago
      It's a good way to test new hardware.
pm215 11y ago
Even the "art project" use may be illegal in some jurisdictions. For instance UK law (Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981 s18) states: "It is an offence for any person, unless the relevant authority has previously consented in writing, to reproduce on any substance whatsoever, and whether or not on the correct scale, any British currency note or any part of a British currency note." (This is separate from the actual counterfeiting offence, which requires intent that you or another person will pass off the copy as genuine.) The art project would probably be OK if you get permission from the Bank of England first: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Pages/reproappform.aspx http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Pages/reproappform....
- Someone1234 11y ago
  This is one reason why pounds on TV shows and in movies is often bundled. They cannot legally print both sides on one sheet of paper, so they print one side on one and one side on another, and then put them at the ends in wads. If you ever see both sides of a note in TV or film then it is the real deal (at least as far as UK pounds go). A lot of "stage money" has a washed out fake on the other side just in case it gets caught on film (so at least the colors are right). Same colors, the words are nonsense, and none of the detail remains.

cstross 11y ago

Ahem: you can't falsify banknotes with regular printers and commodity paper well enough to fool an alert human being, but the scanners in some vending machines are another matter. With 7 colour 1200+ dpi inkjets readily available for photo printing, if you could find a vaguely passable source of paper you could do wonders -- and one option forgers have used is to take low value notes and bleach them before overprinting with a higher denomination print pattern. (I think this is the rationale for high-denomination Euro banknotes -- €50 and above -- having embedded RFID chips.)

raverbashing 11y ago
> used is to take low value notes and bleach them before overprinting with a higher denomination print pattern. (I > think this is the rationale for high-denomination Euro banknotes -- €50 and above -- having embedded RFID chips. Citation needed You can't take a lower denomination bank-note and print a higher denomination one on an Euro note: the sizes are different (of course, maybe you can pass one note for the next in sequence, but it is slightly harder) Also no RFID is mentioned here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_banknotes#Security_features https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_banknotes#Security_featur...
- reacweb 11y ago
  RFID are not yet used: http://www.fleur-de-coin.com/eurocoins/banknote-rfid http://www.fleur-de-coin.com/eurocoins/banknote-rfid
- arethuza 11y ago
  I always thought the coolest thing about Euro notes is their use of traces of the element Europium: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europium https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europium
JoeAltmaier 11y ago
Night guard at work came to the front desk one night, pockets jangling with quarters. "Did you know the change machine will accept a photocopied bill?" Desk called the police, who called the FBI who came and took him away. Never saw him again.
- jccalhoun 11y ago
  The Secret Service deals with counterfeit money not the FBI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secret_Service https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secret_Service
  - JoeAltmaier 11y ago
    Hm. I guess officially. Yet they were FBI. Here's another case: https://www.fbi.gov/minneapolis/press-releases/2010/mp052010a.htm https://www.fbi.gov/minneapolis/press-releases/2010/mp052010... and it says "This case was the result of an investigation by the U.S. Secret Service, the Minneapolis Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation."
hiharryhere 11y ago
Also another reason to have notes with different dimensions. The 5 euro note is tiny... nobody is gonna mistake that for a 50.

alkonaut 11y ago

> you should just use Linux and avoid those silly protection measures I think the protection is often done in the hardware (firmware), not drivers. At least it has to be for any printer/scanner that can work as a standalone copier.

noja 11y ago
Photoshop does it in software (unless you import from an existing file).
stefantalpalaru 11y ago
It was not done in hardware for the scanners and printers I've owned so far.
- gpvos 11y ago
  You checked this on all of them? That's some dedication, for sure.
  - stefantalpalaru 11y ago
    It's a good way to test new hardware.

pm215 11y ago

Even the "art project" use may be illegal in some jurisdictions. For instance UK law (Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981 s18) states: "It is an offence for any person, unless the relevant authority has previously consented in writing, to reproduce on any substance whatsoever, and whether or not on the correct scale, any British currency note or any part of a British currency note." (This is separate from the actual counterfeiting offence, which requires intent that you or another person will pass off the copy as genuine.) The art project would probably be OK if you get permission from the Bank of England first: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Pages/reproappform.aspx http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Pages/reproappform....

Someone1234 11y ago
This is one reason why pounds on TV shows and in movies is often bundled. They cannot legally print both sides on one sheet of paper, so they print one side on one and one side on another, and then put them at the ends in wads. If you ever see both sides of a note in TV or film then it is the real deal (at least as far as UK pounds go). A lot of "stage money" has a washed out fake on the other side just in case it gets caught on film (so at least the colors are right). Same colors, the words are nonsense, and none of the detail remains.