COUNTERFEIT CURRENCY AND DOCUMENTS

Fake currency undermines economies while fraudulent identity documents give criminals freedom of movement.

In Your Pocket?

We have probably all handled a forged banknote at some point, without realising it.

A passport to crime

Criminals often travel on false documents, making it harder to identify them.

Only trained officials can correctly unmask currency and identity document forgers.

Document forgers are skilled professionals. To expose them, law enforcement has to be capable of identifying the tiniest detail, often invisible to the naked eye.

We deliver training courses worldwide to forensic document examiners, border control officers, immigration officials and prosecutors. They complement our forensic, operational and technical support.

Train-the-trainer programme

INTERPOL and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have developed a train-the-trainer programme and accompanying guide entitled Introduction to Security Document Examination.

In addition to teaching participants how to recognise illegally created security documents or the fraudulent use of genuine ones, the programme aims to boost intelligence sharing and introduce standards among border and immigration control officers, forensic personnel, prosecutors, the judiciary and other relevant parties.

Combining theory and practice, the programme covers topics such as personalization and printing techniques, security features and our specialized databases.

E-learning

We have also designed our own e-learning module on Security Document Examination. This project was funded by the US Department of State and has been made available to all our member countries.

Outside expertise

We have been able to expand the e-learning package by working closely with national governments. The Finnish National Police donated its facial comparison training module which can now be accessed by law enforcement officers in all our member countries via the I-24/7 secure global police communications system.

Similarly, a private company, Keesing, has made available its Documentchecker Banknotes reference database which authorized users can access online. This “Genuine Currency Library” contains more than 5,000 banknotes and more than 70,000 images of critical details to help users quickly identify security features and main characteristics.

Counterfeiting is a crime dating back to antiquity. Today, the scope is wider, the impact greater, the tools more readily available and the techniques increasingly sophisticated.

If left unchecked, the circulation of counterfeit currency can undermine national economies, weaken financial institutions and jeopardize people’s livelihoods. It fuels the underground economy and finances the activities of organized criminal networks and terrorists.

The fraudulent use of identity and travel documents – whether they be counterfeit, forged or simply unofficial – is a major threat to both individuals and society as a whole.

Recent developments in photographic, computer and printing technologies, along with the availability of low-cost equipment, have made forgery much easier.

To keep pace with the evolving state of the art, law enforcement needs to master increasingly technical skills. INTERPOL provides sophisticated tools, comprehensive databases and hands-on training to take the guesswork out of identifying fake banknotes and documents.