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Bogus Bills: Counterfeit New $20 Bills Starting to Appear

Aired October 31, 2003 - 06:16   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time now, though, for a little 'Business Buzz.' It didn't take long for bogus $20 bills to appear.
Carrie Lee has the story from the Nasdaq market site in Times Square.

You've got to be kidding -- Carrie.

CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: It's very ironic, Carol, because those new $20 bills were issued less than a month ago and already there have been a couple of incidents of counterfeiting. A couple in Massachusetts, people tried to use fake notes at a convenience store, a restaurant, a RadioShack in that state. And then also about five notes were tried to pass in Indiana. So very ironic that this is happening so quickly.

Of course the big point of these new bills was to try to curb counterfeiting. These new bills have various pastel colors, an embedded vertical strip, a watermark. They change color when you hold them up to the light. However, officials say they are not surprised to see this. And in fact, they were prepared for it.

A spokeswoman for the Secret Service says they often see this when new bills are changed. That's because people aren't quite sure what new bills look like until they actually get a good look at them and get used to them, this is when counterfeiters typically make their moves, so this time around no exception. One in 10,000 bills is counterfeit. But maybe they will curb the problem in the coming months when people actually realize what these bills look like, they will be able to gauge a real one and a fake one a little bit better.

COSTELLO: Hopefully so. Carrie Lee reporting live for us from the Nasdaq market site.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired October 31, 2003 - 06:16   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time now, though, for a little 'Business Buzz.' It didn't take long for bogus $20 bills to appear.
Carrie Lee has the story from the Nasdaq market site in Times Square.

You've got to be kidding -- Carrie.

CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: It's very ironic, Carol, because those new $20 bills were issued less than a month ago and already there have been a couple of incidents of counterfeiting. A couple in Massachusetts, people tried to use fake notes at a convenience store, a restaurant, a RadioShack in that state. And then also about five notes were tried to pass in Indiana. So very ironic that this is happening so quickly.

Of course the big point of these new bills was to try to curb counterfeiting. These new bills have various pastel colors, an embedded vertical strip, a watermark. They change color when you hold them up to the light. However, officials say they are not surprised to see this. And in fact, they were prepared for it.

A spokeswoman for the Secret Service says they often see this when new bills are changed. That's because people aren't quite sure what new bills look like until they actually get a good look at them and get used to them, this is when counterfeiters typically make their moves, so this time around no exception. One in 10,000 bills is counterfeit. But maybe they will curb the problem in the coming months when people actually realize what these bills look like, they will be able to gauge a real one and a fake one a little bit better.

COSTELLO: Hopefully so. Carrie Lee reporting live for us from the Nasdaq market site.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com