Colext/Macondo Cantina virtual de los COLombianos en el EXTerior -------------------------------------------------- Ay compatriotitas; vayan alistando, no solamente las visas para todos los países, sino también alístense a la requisada y revisada de los dolaretes, para ver si son falsos... :O(= PANG============= http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1251000/1251669.stm Friday, 30 March, 2001, 15:51 GMT 16:51 UK Colombian forgers foiled The US dollar is relatively easy to forge By business reporter Mark Gregory The authorities in Colombia have broken up a sophisticated counterfeiting ring which they say produced millions of forged United States dollars. Police said they had arrested 13 people in the city of Medellin, and seized printing machines capable of producing almost perfect dollars and currency from four Latin American countries. Experts say dollars are relatively easy to forge Central banks around the world fight a never ending battle against fake banknotes. One tactic is to constantly change the design of legal tender. In Britain, for example, there is a new £20 note that features a picture of the composer Edward Elgar. He was chosen over the novellist Jane Austen because his face was thought to be more difficult to copy. A wide range of features and techniques are employed by currency authorities around the world to make notes hard to fake - including the use of special papers, complex printing processes, watermarks and invisible security features detectable only by bank counting machines. The two main production centres for counterfeit banknotes are Colombia, which is the source of around a third of fake US dollars in circulation, and Hong Kong. Fewer security features Not surprisingly, it is the world's leading currency - the US dollar - that is most frequently faked. Experts say dollars are relatively easy to forge. The notes have fewer embedded security features than other major currencies, and the way they look has hardly changed in decades. Within the US, currency fraud is seen as a manageable issue. The government has a large department dedicated to combatting it, and there are harsh and rigorously enforced penalties for anyone caught. Experts say the main problem with fake dollar bills is outside the US, especially in parts of Latin America where the dollar has formally or informally taken over from the local currency. -------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] with UNSUBSCRIBE COLEXT as the BODY of the message. Un archivo de colext puede encontrarse en: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ cortesia de Anibal Monsalve Salazar
