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Advanced Inkjet and Laser Printing Technologies Used In Money Printing and Counterfeiting

By: Christy Berger Did you know that during the Civil War, it is believed that over one-third of the nation’s money was counterfeited? That’s an alarming statistic, don’t you think? However, this can be largely blamed on the fact that each bank used to print their own money back then, making it so 4,000 types of money were hard to distinguish from the 7,000 types of counterfeit!

But nowadays, money and all counterfeiting matters are closely guarded by the Secret Service, who takes pride in investigating each and every counterfeiting case.

While the traditional means of money counterfeiting used to be offset printing, technology has caused a surge in the counterfeiting business. Money printing on inkjet printers is the latest craze. The modern counterfeiter can create money on a home computer and by a process of trial and error, produce very close reproductions due to the high quality printing capabilities of today.

Back in the day, the materials needed to counterfeit were much more exclusive and could be more easily tracked. Essentially, they were good for one thing. However, today’s counterfeiters can use standard computers and printers that are readily available to the public. A standard inkjet printer will suffice.

Both printer and toner technologies lend themselves well to the counterfeiting business. This is, of course, not advocating this crime, but it is simply pointing out how technology is both helpful and harmful to people at large.

I suppose that’s the trouble with technology. While the majority of the world will see these advances as a way to improve their output, a select few will view it as an opportunity to commit a crime or to try to “get away” with something illegal. High quality printing is both a blessing and a curse to law enforcement and even the Secret Service who no doubt use these technologies themselves.

An inkjet printer is more commonly used for printing photos, documents, graphs, charts and illustrations for various purposes whether it be for school, work or home. Unfortunately for the Secret Service, that also means twice the work and a rise in counterfeiting. Until detection equipment catches up, they seem to have their work cut out for them with all of this at-home money printing.