Snopes.com lying about your money watching you.

I had in interesting thought. I was thinking about the little strips that are put in money. The 5,10,20, 50, and 100's. I thought I knew a bit about them but I was curious as to what technology existed to monitor your money. SO I found a link on Snopes.com. Everyone knows they are the "go to" source for information.
Here is the link I found. They claim that the rumor that the strip is used for tracking is bunk. It's just to hinder counterfeiters. If you stop there, then all is well and you can go on about your life. But wait......

I remember about a year ago I was at the bank. The tellers were all talking about being tricked with a 100$ bill. They had it in their hands and I asked to see it. It was a $5 that had been bleached and reprinted with a $100. Correct size and paper. It looked perfect. But the machine kept kicking it out as a $5. When you looked close at it, you could read "five" on the little strip. So I am back at the crossroads. A machine is used to count money. It uses the strip to identify denomination of bills. Why would Snopes.com lie?

reply to post by network dude


I don't see them lying, they're saying that the claim that your money can be tracked on your person is false.

I'll hazard a guess that on each note, the security thread is located in a different position so counting machines can tell them apart easily.

reply to post by network dude


The thread might be able to be read in a machine to identify the bill as a five etc. but i dont see it being used at a distance to track you as you pass though a point in a line or a terminal etc..

reply to post by Chadwickus


Nope, the strip is in the same place on every same denomination bill. They are in different places on lets say the 10, 20; I haven't checked the other ones yet. But, if that is what you meant by your statement, then yes, they are in different places and the strip does have the name of the number on it's strip. This is not only for counting, counter-counterfeiting, but I do think (IMO) it also is useful at airports to see how much cash is going through the ports.

reply to post by Chadwickus


I couldn't find the proof I was looking for, but if the technology exists to identify bills by this stripe (which is does), then how could you not think this could be used on a slightly larger scale?

Snopes has a history of being less than truthful. I dont have any offhand, but I have caught a dozen or so falsities on that site before.

Think about this:

If every new credit and debit card has an RFID in it (which they do), then "tracking" with the magnetic strip in money isnt all that important. 99% of people will have their bank card on them, if they have cash.

One thing that I KNOW the magnetic strip is used for is in airports-if people are carrying more than is allowed, it gets detected rather quickly.

For US currency, the thread is in a different place on each bill, and is a different fluorescent color, and has micro-printing on it (the reads 5, 10, 20, 50, or 100). Put it under a fluorescent light, see how each denomination has a different color strip.

Snopes is correct, the strips can't be tracked. They do make anti-counterfeiting machines that can "read" what the bills denomination is and whether it's real or not, some rely on placement of the strip within the bill, some rely on the color of the strip.

But if you want to track a bill, all you need is it's serial number.

There was an old rumor that the feds could tell how much currency you had in your wallet or pocket just by "scanning" you, or that the strips were magnetic. The strips are plastic and not magnetic.

reply to post by captaintyinknots


exactly. I cannot find any links to prove this, but earlier there was a thread about cops taking drug money from a truck. The cops were asking the driver to just tell them where the money was and they would let him go. How did they know he had money and not drugs, weapons, illegal immigrants, small furry creatures, hand tools? How do certain cars get stopped on major highways and searched thoroughly with dogs and usually drugs/money is found. Is that just damn good profiling, or is it possible that sensors are in place to detect large amounts of cash. I almost feel like I know this is the case, but without proof, it's a nutty conspiracy theory I guess.

reply to post by network dude


Well the metal strip does indeed have info coded into it

Magnetic Thread. Many bank notes contain a metal thread within the paper substrate which has some magnetic properties. A centrally placed MG sensor on the bank note counter can detect the presence of a magnetic security thread very effectively. All note counters available from NoteCheckers.Com have this feature as it is essential for English Pounds. Coded Magnetic Thread. The metallic thread of many bank notes (inc English) can have a secret magnetic coding (almost like a digital signal coding) which is different for every note denomination. Special sensors can detect the presence and even read the code within the note at high counting speeds

from
here

I'm assuming that dollars have this feature too

reply to post by davespanners


That's for English pounds and some European banknotes. Euros have a magnetic strip in them as well. US banknotes use some magnetic inks.