ATM HSBC Issuing fake 100 peso notes

[DanM]

Warning to all - double check all your notes when you withdraw from the ATM's. I have just discovered after several days that the HSBC ATM Santa Fe 3400 issued me a number fake 100 peso notes.

Has anyone had success with returning these fake notes to banks here?
Any recommendations?

 

[coolhunter]

Hello Dan,

I've been living here for 3 years and never had an incident of this. I live close to that particular ATM machine too and have used it without any problems!

Did you personally check the notes (see if the dotted lines on the left appear solid when shown in the light and if there's a water mark) right after getting them from the ATM?

Or did someone tell you they were fake. i.e. a taxi driver or dodgy kiosco person. There's a common scam where they would take your 100 peso note, do a quick switch with a fake note, check it and say it's a fake, and giving you back the fake note.

It's common trick that's played on gringos who then think the ATM gave them the fake note.

 

[perry]

There is no way that a bank will dispense fake notes as their controls are foolproof.

It it true though that many people are scammed by Taxidrivers or other unscrupulous people who change real notes for fake billetes.

A famous client of mine who caught a taxi foolishly got scammed not one but over 5 100 pesos notes that were switched by this con artist . He was completety unaware of this scam but laughed it off as a learning experience.

Never give 100 pesos to taxidrivers unless writing the serial numbers of the billete.!!1

 

[DanM]

Hi Coolhunter,

I did not inspect them in detail when I pulled them from the ATM. I kept them in a separate wallet for a couple of days then realised when I went to take a couple more out for my day to day wallet that 3 of them were missing the red vertical serial number on the left hand side of the the note (face side up) and the serial number font size does not increase (it is also written) horizontally on the left of the note and the upper right hand corner. In both cases the font looks more like a type writer.
The vertical metallic strip reads 100 pesos as per the proper notes.
The hologram looks almost identical although - hard to be sure it there is any difference there.

Thanks for you feedback.
Dan

 

[sesamosinsal]

There is no way that a bank will dispense fake notes as their controls are foolproof.

No way? It happens all of the time...

"'I went to withdraw money from an ATM that belongs to a private bank downtown, and out of the $1,000 pesos that I withdrew, the machine had given two bills that I was told were fake when I tried using them for payment. So, I went to the bank and lodged a complaint, but they didn't want to admit that the bills came from their own ATM, even though I showed them the receipt. It's such a scam, and I'm so angry,' he said."

-Link

 

[DanM]

There is no way that a bank will dispense fake notes as their controls are foolproof.

I would love to believe that the bank controls are foolproof - but reality seems to suggest otherwise. In this case there was only one possible source for these fake notes and that was that ATM in question.

 

[Lobo Marino]

Hey Dan,

it sounds like you might got one of the new banknotes series S or T:

go to http://www.bcra.gov.ar/index.asp --> Billetes y Monedas --> Emisiones Vigentes --> Billetes --> click on the 100-peso note and then of each of the three different ones to see the differences and security features... (sorry, couldnt work out the direct link)

the new series look somehow fake when you see them at first time.

Good luck!

 

[DanM]

Lobo

THANK YOU.

I stand corrected - I have the T series.
What a relief.

Yes, you are certainly correct - they look very fake.

Hey Dan,

it sounds like you might got one of the new banknotes series S or T:

go to http://www.bcra.gov.ar/index.asp --> Billetes y Monedas --> Emisiones Vigentes --> Billetes --> click on the 100-peso note and then of each of the three different ones to see the differences and security features... (sorry, couldnt work out the direct link)

the new series look somehow fake when you see them at first time.

Good luck!

 

[kurtdillard]

Perry;
It happened to a friend of my 7 or 8 years ago when we were vacationing together in Bs. As., he noticed they were fake as soon as he pulled them from the ATM. He immediately entered the bank and spoke to a teller, then a manager. They acknowedged that the bills were fake but they refused to admit that the ATM could have contained fake bills. Its not that difficult for the people who restock the ATMs to pull off, if everyone involved agrees to the plot.