21 November 2013

Counterfeit goods, fraud and forgery

The 31st of October 2013 saw a historic event in the legal world, the first televised proceedings in the Court of Appeal. The case involved an appeal against the seven year sentence of a man caught with a large quantity of counterfeit pound coins, and blanks that could be converted into fake coins. It was argued on his behalf that seven years was unduly harsh for his part in the operation. However, the case is notable not just because it was televised, but also because it highlights that although the authorities are prepared to get tough on counterfeiters, the sad truth is that there has been a huge increase in counterfeit coins, bank notes and consumer goods in recent years.

It's not only currency and goods that are being faked, but also documents, stamps and identity cards.

Forgery is the process of making or adapting documents with the intention to deceive. It is a form of fraud, and is often a key technique in the execution of identity theft.

Security Printing techniques are commonly used for products such as banknotes, passports, stock certificates and other high value documents. The main goal of security printing is to prevent forgery, tampering or counterfeiting. However, business are now considering protecting their lesser value documents by incorporating security features to ensure that they cannot be forged or that alteration cannot occur undetected.

Many of the techniques used in high value security printing are now available to commercial printers and can be used to produce coupons, tickets, prescription pads, and similar valuable documents. This represents a valuable service that can be offered to customers to protect their printed documents. These security features might include the use of special paper, watermarks, serial numbers, special dyes or the inclusion of electronic devices.

As the criminals become ever more expert at faking goods and documents and the problem becomes global, the Print Industry is responding by coming up with more sophisticated security methods to assist in combating this type of fraud.