Bus drivers tool up to fight crime

Jul 15 2011 by Denis Brown, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

TRANSPORT giant Stagecoach is riding shotgun with cops in a crackdown on fake banknotes.

All drivers have been issued with a secret weapon to deploy when presented with what they suspect is counterfeit currency – a detector pen.

The staff have been instructed to check any suspect currency, and if found to be dodgy, to retain the note and log a description of the passenger for police to chase up.

Stagecoach operations director Sarah Longair said the initiative followed a pow-wow between senior management and police on how to deal with a high number of fraudulent notes doing the rounds.

“The proliferation of counterfeit notes is a concern for staff and customers alike,” she said.

“By using the detector pens, we hope that our drivers will be able to reduce the number of fake notes which are currently in the area.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank customers for their co-operation in this matter.”

A Tayside Police spokesman said counterfeit currency was an issue that cropped up from time to time.

Last Christmas for example, police issued an alert about bent £5, £10 and £20 notes, ostensibly from all three Scottish banks, being reported by local retailers.

Among them were phony £20 Clydesdale Bank notes with three different serial numbers, which was unusual as forgers usually only produced a series of fakes bearing the same serial number.

It was believed the wider range of numbers was designed to boost chances of notes passing undetected, particularly in shops relying on the naked eye, rather than gadgets, to check money.

The spokesman suggested several methods to verify authenticity, explaining that genuine notes were printed on a fine cotton weave that had a markedly different feel from ordinary paper used by crooks.

“To check the watermark, hold the paper up to the light – real notes will have the watermark in the paper, but counterfeiters will print the watermark onto the paper,” he said.

“Real notes also have a high-quality hologram but counterfeiters try to get round this by printing an ultra fine foil on to the note.

“And genuine notes have individual serial numbers, whereas forgers will often not bother, so if two or more of your notes have the same numbers, then they are fakes.”

l If you are passed a counterfeit note, contact Tayside Police on 0300 111 222, or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.