These counterfeit banknotes, used in films for example, are diverted from their primary use and are increasingly used to buy real goods.
Stamped “poker“,”specimen“, Or even”Disneyland“, Fake banknotes, the possession of which is legal and not subject to counterfeiting, are increasingly used for scams of up to several hundred thousand euros, alert the national police on Monday, January 11.
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Those “Monopoly tickets“, Which take on the appearance of an official ticket but bear a special mention, can be purchased freely on the internet”en masse and for not much“, especially “Chinese sites like Alibaba», Explains to AFP Commissioner William Hippert, head of the information, intelligence and strategic analysis service on organized crime (Sirasco). In 2021, 2,000 facsimile banknotes were seized by the police or handed over to the Banque de France, a “figure necessarily below reality», Underlines the head of Sirasco.
These special denominations are not used so much to fool the eye of the merchant as for scams of the type “rip deal” Where “rotten transaction»: They are made during a cash transaction involving large sums of money to acquire real estate, a precious jewel or large quantities of goods.
A well-established strategy
In December, an individual sold over 60,000 euros worth of gold ingots and ended up with bundles of 200 euros of banknotes with the inscription “poker», Reports William Hippert. In November, customs officers at the Modane border post discovered one million euros in facsimiles of 200 euros and an investigation was opened to identify a team specializing in “rip-deal“. In March, near Mulhouse, a seller of luxury watches was given 80,000 euros in fake banknotes of 500 euros with the mention “specimen“.
The modus operandi of the crooks, often from the Balkans, is particularly well established to give victims confidence. Dressed up to the nines, they meet sellers – contacted via specialized sites or by word of mouth – in salons of major Parisian hotels, on the Côte d’Azur or abroad, such as Switzerland. , Monaco, Hongkong or Singapore. Cash transactions “can reach a million euros», Emphasizes William Hippert.
The buyers, who often come in groups, then present real tickets in a bag, which they circulate among themselves to deceive the seller’s vigilance and finally give him false cash. “Everything is based on cunning and almost conjuring», Notes the commissioner. “By the time the victim realizes the sleight of hand by opening the briefcase in the hotel room, the crooks have already disappeared“And the filing of a complaint is not systematic because”the goods have not all been declared to the tax authoritiesHe adds.