Photo: Polizeidirektion Pirmasens
The saying goes, if you don’t have it, fake it. Well, that applies to mostly everything but money: fake money and you’re bound to get caught – and, to boot, get laughed at online.
One woman from Germany thought she had a better way of coming up with the cash for a new car, one that didn’t involve her doing any actual work. The bad news (for her) is that she had neither the equipment nor the skills for it, so she was arrested shortly after she walked in the door at the dealership.
It happened in the southwestern city of Kaiserslautern in Germany, German publication DW reports. The woman walked into a local dealership and started negotiations for a car. All was well until she offered to pay in cash for it, and then offered the dealer €15,000 worth of fake money.
The fake money wasn’t even convincing: that is to say, while some forgers go to great lengths to deliver banknotes that resemble the original as closely as possible, this woman had actually printed the bills on a regular printer, at home.
The report says that police raided her Pirmasens home and found the printer “loaded” with more fake bills, as well as 13,000 more fake euros. Her identity hasn’t been made public to the press, but the report does mention that she’s 20 years old. Here’s to hoping old age will bring her wisdom.
“According to Germany's Federal Criminal Police (BKA), ‘imitating money with the intention of putting it on the market’ is punishable by at least one year in prison. The state prosecutor has yet to issue criminal charges against the woman,” DW says.
“Although professional counterfeiters use highly sophisticated equipment, the BKA said that amateurs can easily access counterfeiting equipment online, and that ‘no special knowledge’ is necessary. The 50-euro note is the most counterfeited,” DW continues, adding that, in 2018, over €17 million worth of fake money was pulled from circulation.
It happened in the southwestern city of Kaiserslautern in Germany, German publication DW reports. The woman walked into a local dealership and started negotiations for a car. All was well until she offered to pay in cash for it, and then offered the dealer €15,000 worth of fake money.
The fake money wasn’t even convincing: that is to say, while some forgers go to great lengths to deliver banknotes that resemble the original as closely as possible, this woman had actually printed the bills on a regular printer, at home.
The report says that police raided her Pirmasens home and found the printer “loaded” with more fake bills, as well as 13,000 more fake euros. Her identity hasn’t been made public to the press, but the report does mention that she’s 20 years old. Here’s to hoping old age will bring her wisdom.
“According to Germany's Federal Criminal Police (BKA), ‘imitating money with the intention of putting it on the market’ is punishable by at least one year in prison. The state prosecutor has yet to issue criminal charges against the woman,” DW says.
“Although professional counterfeiters use highly sophisticated equipment, the BKA said that amateurs can easily access counterfeiting equipment online, and that ‘no special knowledge’ is necessary. The 50-euro note is the most counterfeited,” DW continues, adding that, in 2018, over €17 million worth of fake money was pulled from circulation.
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