# I pit you, customers that think money fraud is funny. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 7, 2006, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-customers-that-think-money-fraud-is-funny/351660 "2006-04-07T01:46:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-customers-that-think-money-fraud-is-funny/351660/21 "2006-04-07T04:13:41Z")
[QUOTE=Surbey] Very much so. Some people print their own, thus the ink will show if its fake. Others will was[h] out a 5 dollar bill and put a 100 on it. Thus the water mark. No matter how well you wash out a 5 dollar bill, Abe Lincoln’s picture just won’t go away. [/QUOTE] Wow. We have different coloured plastic money here, so I had never heard of any of this. ---
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-customers-that-think-money-fraud-is-funny/351660/22 "2006-04-07T04:30:48Z")
Yeah, our currency system is a little wierd. Most countries have their security features on the outside, but we, for reasons beyond my current understanding, have ours internally. They aren’t THAT hard to counterfeit, I’ve seen some pretty descent fakes that almost passed my inspection. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-customers-that-think-money-fraud-is-funny/351660/23 "2006-04-07T04:42:55Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] That’s not funny. Too many people are needlessly killed everyday with handguns. [/QUOTE] And humor appears to be the hand guns first causality. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-customers-that-think-money-fraud-is-funny/351660/24 "2006-04-07T04:44:18Z")
[QUOTE=gazpacho] And humor appears to be the hand guns first causality. [/QUOTE] Dare I say, whoosh? ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-customers-that-think-money-fraud-is-funny/351660/25 "2006-04-07T04:44:20Z")
[QUOTE=gazpacho] And humor appears to be the hand guns first causality. [/QUOTE] when humor is outlawed, only comedians will bite the bullet. ---
**Author:** ![mrrealtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@mrrealtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrrealtime)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-customers-that-think-money-fraud-is-funny/351660/26 "2006-04-07T05:20:16Z")
At least you dont have to put up with counterfiet jeans. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-customers-that-think-money-fraud-is-funny/351660/27 "2006-04-07T05:32:44Z")
I guess part of it for me is when I was younger, no one checked your currency the way they do now. In my experience, it’s still a fairly recent thing. Back in day, the only way to get crisp, brand-new bills was if you’d just come from the bank, and then it was more likely the storekeeper who’d make the “just printed these, eh” joke. The first time anyone checked my money was in Russia, where you could pay for things with American money. I figured that was reasonable, there. Back in the States, I was mildly insulted when people first started doing it. Making the joke was a way of laughing off what was a somewhat uncomfortable situation. It was better than saying “hey jackass, do I look like a fucking counterfeiter?!? How dare you!” ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-customers-that-think-money-fraud-is-funny/351660/28 "2006-04-07T05:35:48Z")
In Russia, money counterfeits you… ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-customers-that-think-money-fraud-is-funny/351660/29 "2006-04-07T05:42:41Z")
[QUOTE=even sven] Oh man, I hate this joke. It only takes hearing it a couple times a day to make you hate it. It’s right up there with “I get that free, right” when prices don’t come up or the scanner doesn’t work right. [/QUOTE] Ugh. My least favorite repetitive “joke” is “I’ll see you next year!”, invariably said late December. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-customers-that-think-money-fraud-is-funny/351660/30 "2006-04-07T05:44:32Z")
I seriously had a lady at a Mexican restaurant refuse my $1 bill because she couldn’t see a watermark and she swore it was fake. Seriously. But how about this: I’m tired of little counter monkeys saying “Oh, you sure this is real? Did ya make it this morning?” everytime I use a $100 bill. Literally the last 5 times I’ve paid with a $100, I’ve gotten this exact same comment. Bah. ---
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-customers-that-think-money-fraud-is-funny/351660/31 "2006-04-07T05:44:50Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] In Russia, money counterfeits you… [/QUOTE] Never thought I’d see a Yakov Smirnoff joke in The Pit ---
**Author:** ![AFAIKnow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a6a055/32.png) [@AFAIKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AFAIKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-customers-that-think-money-fraud-is-funny/351660/32 "2006-04-07T06:10:47Z")
[QUOTE=Surbey] If you do this to cashiers, you should be stop. The joke isn’t appreciated. [/QUOTE] Maybe you should get a job where you don’t have to deal with people. You’re fucking checking the thing for crying out loud. If you don’t know what you are doing well enought o know the customer is joking, then you are wasting the customers time with your idiocy. If you do know what you are doing and just don’t think the joke is funny then don’t fucking laugh. It is not like the screamed “fire!” in a theater or remarked they may have a bomb on a plane, for fuck’s sake. We have to put up with idiots for cashiers. You can always find a job where you can demand others make you appreciate them or keep quiet. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-customers-that-think-money-fraud-is-funny/351660/33 "2006-04-07T06:32:44Z")
[QUOTE=AFAIKnow] We have to put up with idiots for cashiers. You can always find a job where you can demand others make you appreciate them or keep quiet. [/QUOTE] Uh oh. So, **AFAIKnow** , how’s work going? ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-customers-that-think-money-fraud-is-funny/351660/34 "2006-04-07T06:34:06Z")
[QUOTE=Go You Big Red Fire Engine] Enlighten a foreigner here, why do you have to check the money? Is it easily/commonly counterfeited? [/QUOTE] I had never had that test done until I spent a longish weekend near Disneyworld. (Apparently people feel they don’t have to use real money at the happiest place on earth or something). I handed the person a $20 and she accused me of counterfeiting. Not a pleasant experience and incredibly insulting if you aren’t used to it. (The person at the counter didn’t do it to the person in front of me… perhaps her bills were already checked or something. Or I look like a thief.) It hasn’t happened since. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-customers-that-think-money-fraud-is-funny/351660/35 "2006-04-07T07:31:04Z")
When the cashier hands me my change I whip out my counterfeit pen and check the bills right back. Mama always said “never trust a grouchy cashier” 😉 **Surbey** : When they say that write **VOID** on the bill with the pen and hand it back. heh heh ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-customers-that-think-money-fraud-is-funny/351660/36 "2006-04-07T09:48:13Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] What happens to me is, I take some twenties out of the ATM which is located about six feet from the register, and the clerk does the ink test on the nice crisp bills she just saw me take out of the ATM. In that case sorry, but you have to put up with my “it’s ok, I just printed it” joke. [/QUOTE] I paid for some groceries with a £20 I took out of the ATM outside the shop, it briefly tested as a fake until the girl went to the back room and came out telling me it was ok. Not sure what happened in the back room… ---
**Author:** ![Caught\_Work](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/919ad9/32.png) [@Caught\_Work](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caught_Work)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-customers-that-think-money-fraud-is-funny/351660/37 "2006-04-07T11:24:14Z")
OK another furriner here, what’s a counterfeit pen and what do you do with it to check the note? ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-customers-that-think-money-fraud-is-funny/351660/38 "2006-04-07T11:45:23Z")
The pen is an iodine marker, on a real note its yellowish and on a fake note it’s black. It works well on schmucks who just try to color copy a note on regular copier paper, the wood pulp reacts with the iodine. It works not at all against a more sophisticated counterfeiter who uses the right kind of paper. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-customers-that-think-money-fraud-is-funny/351660/39 "2006-04-07T11:51:30Z")
**Surbey** , **Surbey** … Aren’t you the high school letterman’s jacket ranter? Yeesh, maybe **AFAIKnow** ’s right. Maybe you should just stop dealing with people if little stuff like this sets you off. ---
**Author:** ![Mellivora\_capensis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mellivora\_capensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mellivora_capensis)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-customers-that-think-money-fraud-is-funny/351660/40 "2006-04-07T13:14:43Z")
[QUOTE=Caught@Work] OK another furriner here, what’s a counterfeit pen and what do you do with it to check the note? [/QUOTE] It’s a fake pen, which doesn’t last as long as a genuine pen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-customers-that-think-money-fraud-is-funny/351660.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-you-customers-that-think-money-fraud-is-funny/351660.md?page=3)