Now here’s what I consider a valid question: At what point is a fraud so outrageous it shouldn’t even be prosecuted because nobody could really be taken in by it?
Case in point: 300 and 600 euro notes featuring hearts instead of stars, the word “EROS” along with “EURO,” and pictures of halfnaked men and women.
There are no 300 or 600 euro notes in circulation, by the way: The highest genuine denominations are 100, 200 and 500.
That being said, they fooled at least one merchant, a Cologne, Germany
newsagent who accepted a 600 euro note for a purchase of two cartons of cigarettes, and gave the customer 534 euros in change.
Authorities are still looking for the counterfeiter-pornographer.
Back in the U.S., customs agents have found in the possession of Tekle
Zigette, a man under investigation for currency smuggling, 250 billion-dollar bills. Presumably there is a possible fraudulent use for billion-dollar bills, but it’s difficult to imagine what: Was Zigette planning to go to a newsstand, buy two cartons of cigarettes and wait to receive $999,999,534 in change?
Much like defacement of U.S. currency, it’s fine until there’s an actual intent to defraud. Then it becomes An Issue.
The idea that “everybody knows” is foolish and is no defence. Many people who aren’t very familiar with genuine Euros could certainly be taken. That includes tourists, young people new to the workforce, or people who rarely see large bills.
Furthermore, what “everybody knows” isn’t always accurate. In Canada, some anti-counterfeiting features were added to the five-dollar bill quite some time ago (about 10 years, I think). These bills look just like the previous version of the bill but with additional features, like a metalic strip and a watermark portrait. Now the “everybody knows” wisdom amongst shopkeepers is that these genuine bills without the additional features are fakes.
My friend’s very old and not-quite-there father-in-law was recently duped into signing 2 four-figure cheques on his own doorstep by some confidence tricksters. Fortunately, the bank was aware of his condition and sought confirmation from his daughter – who stopped the cheques.
So the answer to your question is a very straightforward, “NEVER”.
There IS NO fraud so outrageous that no one would be taken in by it.
I am uncomfortable with the idea that there should exist a verdict of “not guilty by reason of victim stupidity”.
Ok so if that is counterfeit, I better hurry up and destroy the Monopoly money before the FBI catches on…..
I’d agree with taking intent into account – manufacturing the obviously fake bills – not a crime. Passing (or attempting to pass) them off as real currency – naughty.
Everybody has an off day. My (very intelligent) wife was working at a college bookstore when a student from another country who was already having trouble with the process and the language paid using some Nickels with the new rendering of Jefferson (brand new at the time). My wife informed the poor confused student that she could only accept American currency and handed them back. She was duly embarrassed a couple hours later when the new nickels showed up again, this time with an explanation in native English.
Having never seen a Euro note before, and not knowing the denominations in use, I’d probably rely strictly on the “feel” of these notes to determine if they were genuine. Yes, 600 is an strange denomination, perhaps 300 not so much. The US had 3-cent coins in its history and I have stamps from wartime Germany that are something rediculous like 10,000,000 Mark denominations. Without knowledge of the local currency yes, I could be duped.
So anyone passing these off as genuine should be convicted of fraud.
I actually served on a jury once in which a man went into a car dealership and wrote down on his application that he was a big executive and had graduated from Harvard. He seemed more like someone who had never graduated from high school. The person who took his application called the police and he was arrested. At his trial, his attorney did not bother to present a defense. She just said she thought the prosecution had not proved its case. We convicted him, but I have no idea why he was brought to trial in the first place.
Richard, what exactly was he charged with?
Of course, in this country, $200 bills with a picture of George W. Bush on them were accepted as legitimate by people who should have known better (grocery store clerks).
I seem to remember that when JSG Boggs was tried for counterfeiting in England, the question of whether a “moron in a hurry” would be deceived by a particular faux bank note was brought up. The “moron in a hurry” is apparently the standard by which one judges such things.
In this particular case, it is not so much the hearts or the nekkid people as it is the non-existent denomination that ought to alert one that all is not well.
The naked people wouldn’t seem out of place if the text were in French instead of German.
Related Story: There exist magic-supply houses that will sell to you exceedingly-realistic “fake” money, such as “million dollar bills”, made on an extremely close copy of the Federal Reserve’s paper, even down to those little poly strips inside. The magic houses in question are, for obvious reasons, exceedingly cautious about who they sell these to–you must be referred by a client they know, they’ll probably talk to you on the phone to confirm how you’re going to use said bills, etc. And they cost on the order of $50 apiece, so they’re nothing like the fake $3 bills with a current president’s face, etc. that folks can buy online by the padful.
Anyhow, a magician with whom I worked gave me one of these bills that had accidentally been stapled, making it all but useless for the magic trick it was designed for. I had it in my wallet, and one morning pulled it out by accident and handed it to the drugstore clerk, some teen, to pay for my newspaper and some other things. He replied “That’s not real–is it?” I was still waking up, thought I had handed him a stray $50, and said You gotta go back to the manager for change, don’t you……?” The next thing I see is him walking off with a straight face to the back….. I look, realize he has the Million dollar bill,” and almost scream at him to stop. He ignores me, and heads back to the manager in the back. I cringed as he asked, APPARENTLY completely seriously, for her to break it. At a distance, I couldn’t hear it, but I could certainly lip-read “What the F***? You get [unintelligible],,,,,,” as she spun him around, and literally smacked the back of his head with her hand and pushed him back where he came from….. He sheepishly returned to the register and said “I’m sorry, but–” I didn’t let him finish. I grabbed the bill, threw down three real $1 bills and change, and got the hell out of there.
I never saw that kid working that store again. Though I must confess I wasn’t looking that hard, either…..