[luby]

Hi,

At the end of May 2006, I withdrew $1,000 (in 10 of $100 bills) from a local Bank of America branch, and gave these money to my sister as her wedding gift. Last month, my sister, who lives in another country, went to her local bank to exchange these $1,000 into local currency. However, the bank cashier told her that 2 out of 10 of these $100 bills are fake. Luckily the bank did not trash these fake green bills, instead, they let my sister keep the bills.

I was totally shocked by their finding. This is the first time that I have ever heard of and encountered the case of fake green bills. I do recall that those $100 bills the BA cashier gave me at the time of withdrawal were not brand new. But I did not pay attention back then because I would never thought that a bank will give customer fake bills. Looking back, one thing is suspicious though - at the day of the transaction there was a long line of people in front of me waiting for withdrawals. A guy in front of me seemed to deposit thousands of dollars. I went to the same cashier's window after this guy was gone. The cashier seemed to be short of cash so she seemed to simply take $1,000 from what this guy just put in.

Is there anything I can do to get my $200 back? Is there any law that protects cutomers from such frauds? My concern is that how I can prove that these 2 fake bills came from this particular BA branch? - I mean, I banked only in this branch, and I never withdrew any $100 bill from any other banking center or ATM, but how can I prove it?

I would appreciate if you can give me any piece of advice on how to fight this issue.

[Fr_Chuck]

I doubt that you can prove it, Unless that branch found other fake bills that few days and will admit it.

I would go to the bank VP at that location and tell them the story and hope you get one that is honest.

[ScottGem]

You might find this article interesting:

http://kutv.com/getgephardt/local_story_214003035.html

As the article states, the last person to receive the bills, by law, incurs the losses. However, if someone knowlingly passes the counterfeits, they can be in even more trouble.

Be thankful you didn't lose more.

[luby]

Thanks both of you for your reply. It helps. From now on I should be more careful.

[ScottGem]

This site should help in detecting counterfeits.

http://www.moneyfactory.gov/newmoney/