[justin66]

I was responding to a specific point grecy made. People will check a $20. I imagine they might even change their method of checking if a different type of counterfeit becomes popular. I've only ever seen the marker or a UV light used in public, but criminals aren't the only ones capable of adapting to new circumstances.

Hopefully it's obvious that the seller mentioned in the article is probably not making or selling a darn thing. What authority are you going to go to when you find out the counterfeit currency you bought online anonymously with bitcoins was just a scam? His scam is, on a small scale, more profitable than actually manufacturing counterfeit bills and selling them.

Which doesn't mean the seller won't get a visit from the US secret service if he's crazy enough to be running this scam outside of Russia or Nigeria or something...

[cm2012]

In NYC, at least, in 100s of places, I've literally never seen someone check a $20 in any way other than putting it up to the light, and that is 5% of the time. I'm sure it happens though.

[justin66]

I never noticed it in San Francisco or the East Bay, but I lived there a fairly long time ago. In the midwest, I see it often. Not sure what that's about.

[mpyne]

When I was a cashier way back in the day (around the turn of the century) we checked $20s and higher with the marker pen thingy.