Be Wary of Fake Colones and U.S. Bills
Colombian "masters" in falsifying currency have control of the business in Costa Rica, according to experts of the Ministerio de Seguridad, and are responsible for producing almost undetectable fake Colones and U.S. bills.

The "funny money" is so good that it even fails the black light test that is used to detect the security marks on original bills and the markers to reveal the false paper. And it is no surprise that even automated teller machines cannot tell the difference between the real and fake bills.

Police say that within the last two years, the quality of the fakes has gotten better and for the most part it is due to the "Colombian school" that leads the market in the falsification of Costa Rican notes.

Paul Chaves, director of investigations of the Ministerio de Seguridad, affirms that "the quality of the falsifications has increased substantially. The Colombians are good at falsifications and are noted throughout the world for the busines and in Costa Rica they have taught their craft".

Chaves added that the falsifiers are now armed with laser copiers, scanner and computers, leaving behind the antiquated methods used in the past.

Franciso Segura, subdirector of the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ), assures that daily they confiscate false bills, both Costa Rican and U.S. currency and it is difficult to tell how many are involved in the business, but assures that the Unidad de Fraudes (fraud squad) is on their trail.

The biggest single blow to the falsifiers came last week when OIJ agents arrested a man identified by his last name Pérez, with ¢800.000 colones in ¢2.000, ¢5.000 and ¢10.000 false notes. The man was arrested near the gasoline station La Castellana, on the south side of downtown San José, and is believed to be one of the leaders of a gang of falsifiers.

Experts say that the quality of false Costa Rican bills has gotten better over the years. One way to tell the difference, however, is the colour of the paper for used notes. Fake bills tend turn yellow when dirty, while the real bills do not.

Carlos Astorga, manager of security at the Banco de Costa Rica, assures that his bank has special equipment to detect fake bills, both for Costa Rican and foreign currency. Astorga added that the quality of the printing has gotten much better over the years, "foreign" experts, especially the Colombians, are now teaching Costa Rican counterfeiters the tricks of the trade.

In April of this year, the Colombian police, discovered a network of counterfeiters  that regularly sent U.S. notes to Latin America, including Costa Rica. In a house in Medellín, Colombia, agents discovered us$1.3 million dollars in 5, $10, $20 and $100 notes, ready for distribution.