Was It a Counterfeit or Genuine...? Why Are 'Inconsistent' US Dollars Exchanged at Domestic Banks?

US Dollars Exchanged at Domestic Banks Found Counterfeit Overseas
Bank Says "No Problem If Detected as Counterfeit at Least Once"

A major domestic bank's exchanged US dollars were found to be counterfeit bills overseas. The photo is not related to any specific expression in the article. [Image source=Pixabay]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] A case has occurred where US dollars exchanged at a major domestic bank were found to be counterfeit bills overseas. Although the customer who tried to use them locally experienced inconvenience, the bank stated that it bears no responsibility.

According to Yonhap News on the 22nd, Mr. A, a man in his 30s living in Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do, visited a local commercial bank near his residence a month ago to exchange currency before traveling to Indonesia.

He exchanged a total of 900 dollars at the bank and left for Indonesia, but encountered an unexpected situation when exchanging the dollars back into local currency. One 100-dollar bill was found to be counterfeit.

After returning to Korea, Mr. A revisited the bank branch where he initially purchased the dollars to have the suspicious bill re-examined for counterfeit verification.

As a result, two different counting machines that detect counterfeit bills confirmed that Mr. A’s bill was counterfeit. However, when the same bill was tested with another counting machine, it was identified as genuine currency.

Yonhap News reported that the inconsistent results are presumed to be due to the bank using counting machines with poor detection capabilities. This could be because the dollar bill was worn out, had foreign substances on it, or the counting machine sensors were outdated, leading to improper counterfeit detection.

However, the bank stated that it properly conducted counterfeit verification when exchanging Mr. A’s bills and therefore does not take responsibility for this incident. The bank explained that if at least one of the four different counting machines identifies the bill as genuine, it is considered valid.

The bank explained, "We only give customers bills that have been identified as genuine, but it is difficult to prepare for cases where bills are detected as counterfeit overseas using unknown counting machines." They added, "Since the dollar is a widely used currency, various anti-counterfeit features can deteriorate over time, making counterfeit detection challenging." Meanwhile, Mr. A, who experienced inconvenience during his overseas trip due to this incident, said, "I hope no other victims like me arise because of outdated counting machines."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.