Counterfeit Pens
How the scam works:
This scam proves to be incredibly lucrative fast. Scammers will go door to door selling so-called counterfeit pens to businesses, claiming to be representatives of a marketing company which manufactures anti-fraud pens. They explain the pens work by marking the bills. If the color of the stroke turns green – the banknote is good. Alternatively, if the pen’s stroke turns grey – the banknote is counterfeit.
The trickery happens in the demonstration itself because the person that shows the employees how the pen works has two different pens without anybody suspecting a thing. Upon convincing the buyer, the scammer sells an ordinary green pen for a jacked up price.
The second part of the scam is completed by someone who comes the next day, asking to change a large sum of money (fake banknotes). The employee trusts their new counterfeit pen, and the color of the stroke is indeed green. But in actuality, they've just given away a small fortune.
How to avoid:
Use more than one device to check for counterfeit money, as there are plenty to choose from. Also, educate yourself and your employees on how to detect counterfeit money by checking the features on the banknotes. Nowadays, there are more than enough ways to do that. A counterfeit pen is just meant to divert your attention from a trustworthy inspection.
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