Do You Pay With Fake Bills?

Counterfeiters have come far in ten years. Compared with the year 1996 where only 1% of counterfeited money was made with the use of a computer and other
digital technology, that amount has increased 50 times! So would you say that counterfeiting is a problem in the United States? I certainly would, and it is
something that the IRS and other governmental agencies should be worried about.

Which Bills Have Changed?

As of right now in 2007, the One Dollar bill remains the least counterfeited and the bil that is copied the most is the Twenty Dollar bill. Fortunately, the United States Government has added some special characteristics to the Twenty Dollar Bill. Not only is the watermark shifted, but color has been added to it as well. An assortment of greens and blues populate the Twenty Dollar bills.

The Fifty and Ten dollar bills have also undergone a change in an effort to stop all the counterfeiting that keeps on circulating.

Counterfeiting Will Continue to Be a Problem

With the ever-increasing stages of technology, the government needs to do more to keep up with the counterfeit money population. Considering that only 10 years ago only 1% of counterfeit money was made with the use of a computer and other special equipment and now that figure has risen not tenfold, but fifty-fold, what will happen in years to come? As technology keeps on improving more people will be able to counterfeit bills.

Something Needs to Be Done

What will the increasing circulation of counterfeit money have on the effect of money altogether? What will happen in the next ten years? The Government and their researchers need to consider that what they are doing obviously isn't doing a good enough job to find that many people responsible for counterfeiting.

To those that handle money on a regular basis, you can help the government fight the war on counterfeit money. Buying a special type of felt tip marker that will change a certain color in the event that you have come across a counterfeit bill is one way to protect yourself against this crime.

But are there any other ways? There aren't too many, and if there are, these formulas and techniques are not readily available to the general population. Stores such as Wal-Mart and Kroger still use the felt tip markers that detect counterfeit bills. But as counterfeiters become smarter and the use of technology increases in this field, it seems as though even a marker would be easy enough to get past.

The Future of Money

As we know it, money and our dollar bills are just paper with no value backed to it. The United States Government needs to decide what serious changes they will make to our money system if counterfeiting continues to be a serious threat as it is today. Unlike the days of old where money was actually backed by real gold and other metals, it no longer has that much value. Will the United States' money change over to a system of all coinage? Some are already discussing changing the One Dollar Bill to coins.

Whatever happens needs to be done quick before counterfeiting becomes an even more serious problem than it is right now! In my mind, the US Government has two choices: be subject to a continuous and more serious problem of counterfeiting as time goes on, or change the monetary system entirely to make it more unique and more difficult to counterfeit!