Beware of Fake false counterfeit bills at Western Union or anywhere else!

[RN in BA]

I just saw this on Reddit. Someone is claiming they got fake $1,000 peso note at a Western Union. I was at a restaurant the other day in Palermo Soho and the waiter tried to give me a fake bill as well and I spotted it. He said it was an honest mistake and he didn't know. But I talked to some expats that said they also got passed fake bills in taxis. It seems like they are trying to pawn off fake bills to foreigners that might not know the money too well.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuenosAires/comments/18o48dz

 

[Spend Thrift]

I just saw this on Reddit. Someone is claiming they got fake $1,000 peso note at a Western Union. I was at a restaurant the other day in Palermo Soho and the waiter tried to give me a fake bill as well and I spotted it. He said it was an honest mistake and he didn't know. But I talked to some expats that said they also got passed fake bills in taxis. It seems like they are trying to pawn off fake bills to foreigners that might not know the money too well.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BuenosAires/comments/18o48dz

Yes, this happened in the taxi the other day. The guy tried to give me a fake 500 peso bill as change. I told him he can keep the change as a tip and he gave me a sour face. LOL.

 

[GlasgowJohn]

the only fake bilL I have had in the last 14 years , came out of an ATM.....

 

[earlyretirement]

the only fake bilL I have had in the last 14 years , came out of an ATM.....

Funny @GlasgowJohn I have a close friend that claimed the same thing! I told him he must be confused and maybe it came somewhere else but after hearing your story I guess it really did happen!

In 22 years I've only received a few fake notes but most were only 100 peso notes or 20 peso notes when the exchange rate was closer to 4 pesos to $1 US so they were actually worth something.

In hundreds of millions of dollars in property purchases/closings I have only received a fake $100 US bill but you won't believe it. It was so amazing. I'm not sure how they did it but it appears they bleached a real $1 bill and the laser printing was so good. It would pass the money counter and also the ink pen test as it was a genuine bill. I kept it and in storage somewhere but it's truly amazing how good of a fake it was.

 

[Cardiac Arrest]

the only fake bilL I have had in the last 14 years , came out of an ATM.....

Wow. Even can't trust the banks. I got a few fake 100 peso notes over the years but now I guess 100 pesos isn't worth anything.
A dime.

 

[James Bond]

Please take note of fake 1,000 peso notes. I got one and I'm not sure where I got it as I had pesos from both Western Union and also a cueva and had them mixed in my safe in my apartment. But it came from one of the two places. The counterfeit was very good but it was rejected while paying for lunch yesterday. I don't think they swapped it out as they showed me right away. The printing was very good. The paper quality was different. Fortunately it is only worth $1 USD now but I would assume once the larger bills come out you will see more counterfeits.

 

[Vero]

Yep I also got one the other day. As you noted, they are perfect copies except the paper quality is a little off but difficult to tell. I thought the same as you mentioned, once the bigger bills come out you will see more of this. This happened before when bills were worth more mostly passed off to tourists.

 

[GlasgowJohn]

I wonder what the cost of making a fake 1,000 peso note is? - Its got to be above 50 cents....

 

[Betsy Ross]

I wonder what the cost of making a fake 1,000 peso note is? - Its got to be above 50 cents....

I was wondering the same thing. I got a few fake 100 peso notes many years ago but those were worth about $25 USD back then. I was wondering how much they are profiting on making these 1,000 peso notes. It can't be that much after printing and paper costs but it must be worth it still as a few of my friends in town also got some.

 

[fetch rover]

the only fake bilL I have had in the last 14 years , came out of an ATM.....

That seems incredible to me that you can get a fake bill out of a bank ATM machine. They must be very good fakes if it can be in an ATM machine.

 

[earlyretirement]

I wonder what the cost of making a fake 1,000 peso note is? - Its got to be above 50 cents....

This is a great point. I would have thought the cost to make the fake bill with the almost worthless currency would prevent people from printing them but I guess if the cost is still below the face value you will see fake bills produced. But one would think the cost of high-quality ink would make this not worth it. I agree once they start printing the new 20,000 peso bill you will probably see more counterfeit bills then.

It has been great to see more and more places accept credit and debit cards. I almost don't use cash in Buenos Aires except for tipping in restaurants and very small markets. Also, even in taxis, if you have a local bank account you can use a local Debit card.