Counterfeit bills from bank ATM's!

[MacDaddy]

My girlfriend works in a boutique hotel in Palermo and in the last month or so, several of their guests have received counterfeit 100-peso notes from bank ATM's. What the hell is going on?! I understand taxi drivers passing fake bills, but a bank? They're supposed to be the ones verifying the bills!

What's truly infuriating is that there's absolutely no recourse. Sure there are cameras on the ATM's, but they're not high resolution enough to distinguish a fake note even if it's held up to the camera. So when the customer goes into the bank to complain, they completely deny it, naturally saying that the fake note "couldn't have come from us".

It would be truly a conspiracy if the banks themselves were complicit in this scheme, so I have to assume that it's simply rogue employees who restock the machines - they slip a few fake ones in so that they can pocket the real notes.
What's disturbing is that this has happened at several different banks: HSBC, Superville, and Banco Frances.

 

[estebandepraga]

Does it really surprise you? At least they weren't fake Uruguayan ones!

 

[ptolemy]

Well, at this point I'd say it's only hearsay. Anyone else on this forum come across fake bills (recently,) from the ATMs? Oddly, as much as people talk about it, during my whole time here in Argentina, I've never seen a fake bill. (Knock on wood.)

 

[GuilleGee]

Only come across the crappy Brazilian notes from the ATM, nothing fake ever.

 

[Julia2]

How do the fake bills look like? Is it easy to see that they are fake?

 

[Davidglen77]

My shop is right next door to a bank and customers have said they've received fake bills from the ATM. I am talking about banco patagonia. It hasn't happened to me thank goodness but I wouln't put it past them for being careless in the bank. Banco Patagonia is the WORST I have experienced so far, they have debited my account for fees nobody can explain, the "account executives" and the manager have a nasty haughty attitude and the ATM machines are often broken, out of cash, or the door to the ATM broken, so if you go in there to take money out you are totally unprotected. Any complaints you make are completely IGNORED and then they treat you even worse, like you did something to them. The cashiers are very nice however, but unfortunately the bank employees who are nice and give good customer service are left in the lower ranks of the company.

 

[Davidglen77]

How do the fake bills look like? Is it easy to see that they are fake?

The best way to check the validity of $100 and $50 bills is to hold them up to the light and see that the watermark is the same sketch as the face on the note, and that the magnetic strip is "woven" throughout the bill and not just printed on. Then take it down from the light and make sure that the denomination of the note is printed on the woven metal strip. That's always worked for me.

The other item to check is MAKE SURE the serial numbers match on both the left and right side of the bill. On the left side it should be printed vertically or horizontally printed (in the case of the $100 bills printed for Argentina in Brazil's mint recently) and the right side accross the top. In some cases people have taped the halves of two different bills together and in this case of course, the serial numbers wont match. Be careful!

 

[gouchobob]

This happens all the time and of course the banks don't want to accept responsibility. Follow the advice given by David on how to spot the bills.

 

[jp]

Never received a fake bill from an ATM but know plenty of people who have. And like OP said - there's no recourse. The bank will deny it happened, and you're stuck with a fake bill.

We've received a few fake bills. Generally poor quality fake 50s (some just colour photocopies!), but I've seen very convincing fake hundreds. Best way to check I've found is to hold the bill up to the light, and you should see horizontal bars crossing the vertical metal strip.

 

[John.St]

Well, at this point I'd say it's only hearsay. Anyone else on this forum come across fake bills (recently,) from the ATMs? Oddly, as much as people talk about it, during my whole time here in Argentina, I've never seen a fake bill. (Knock on wood.)

Neither have I in the nine years have have visited Argentina on a regular basis.