Those of you in retail why was this scam not detected immediately?

A Tempe, Arizona, Home Depot employee is facing a federal charge, after authorities said he repeatedly took cash from the store and replaced it with counterfeit currency before depositing it in the bank, according to a criminal complaint.

According to a US Secret Service news release, agents from the Phoenix field office arrested Adrian Jean Pineda, a vault employee at the store, who was responsible for counting cash and preparing it for deposit.
Pineda is accused of ordering counterfeit bills from Amazon, swapping them with money taken from store cash registers and sealing them in bags for transfer to the bank, according to the complaint. Pineda, the complaint said, admitted to switching the real money with fake bills in an interview with Secret Service agents.
Pineda was assigned a public defender. CNN has reached out to his attorney but has not received a response.
Between January 2018 and January 2022, Home Depot recorded $387,000 in losses due to counterfeit notes in their bank deposits, the Secret Service said.
Agents seized $5,000 in counterfeit currency and $5,300 in genuine currency during Pineda's arrest at Home Depot, according to the Secret Service. An additional $22,000 in genuine currency was recovered at Pineda's home when agents executed a search warrant, the release said.

link: https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/04...it-arrest/index.html

quote:

Pineda is accused of ordering counterfeit bills from Amazon,

Every time you turn around there's another story about Amazon being involved in something that hurts American businesses.

quote:

why was this scam not detected immediately?

I would assume it's common for there to be a percentage of counterfeit money that makes its way past the cashiers. The more cash you take, the more counterfeit bills you'll get. There is a lot of paper money running through these places.

The bank (or whomever processes their deposits) catches it and debits it. Unless a cashier catches somebody passing it, they have no idea where it came from. It's considered a normal cost of doing business, and why businesses take measures to prevent it. They're the ones that eat that loss.

Bet his Amazon order history was interesting. Damn, now I want a money gun. Is it "counterfeit" because it used as real legal tender?

.

I wonder if this is the counterfeit bills he bought on Amazon???

www.Amazon.com/Limited-Collectible-Million-Dollar-Currency/dp/B00X7XI8B0/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=us+bills+currency&qid=1644082490&sprefix=us+bi%2Caps%2C120&sr=8-8

.

quote:

Those of you in retail why was this scam not detected immediately?

Only one person per shift responsible for both the task of preparing the daily or shift deposit and nobody else in that secure area during this function? Wouldn't you expect at least the shift manager or a keyholder to be present?

So that averages out to around 90+k a year in counterfeit money going through that store, you would think that would raise a red flag or two, average funny money vs. real money per deposit. With so many electronic pay kiosks in use those would rule out cashier error you would assume or are those that easy to circumvent?

Or is this an "acceptable cost of doing business"?

A friend worked in a bank. He said the best thing to do when you get a counterfeit bill is put in back in circulation as quick as possible. Its a hot potato, the last person holding that bill will take the loss. Unless your the one who originally put the bill into circulation that bill has value to you.

quote:

https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/04...it-arrest/index.html

Someone is still using cash?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Look at the demographic.

Gpbst3, your friend is a jackass.

That’s one of those monumentally stupid things to do.

Almost as dumb as that Amazon listing, if it’s real.

I assume the bank catches it because their cash counting machines don't sense the magnetic threads the mint puts in real cash. However the better counterfeiters know that trick, and can duplicate it.

If this guy had access to better counterfeit money, he could have gotten away with this indefinitely.

My barber in Manchester NH back went to prison years back for counterfeiting. (at Normands Family Hair Care for you locals - back in the 90's. Employee - not Norm)

Haven't been there in a while but I know he was working there again after he was paroled.

The Amazon money says "Not Legal Tender" "For Motion Picture Use Only"

The legendary Billy Cannon who made the historic run for LSU in 1959 and won the Heisman served time for counterfeiting.

If he stole north of 300k he should pay for his own lawyer.

In my 23 years of making retail store deposits there was only one incident concerning counterfeit money. I had a bogus 20 mixed in a stack of $500. The teller caught it by feel and it was confiscated on the spot. This was probably 30 years ago.

Home Depot must not have been doing the litmus configuration…

quote:

In my 23 years of making retail store deposits there was only one incident concerning counterfeit money. I had a bogus 20 mixed in a stack of $500. The teller caught it by feel and it was confiscated on the spot. This was probably 30 years ago.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Have you ever shopped in a Dollar General in a sketchy area?? Pay with a 20 and they look at you sideways while holding the bill up to the light and using the pen??

quote:

holding the bill up to the light

Which is a good way to do it.

quote:

using the pen

Which is not a good way to to it.

I once received a counterfeit $1 bill at a fast food restaurant in Atlanta.
I never really looked at my change as it was just a few bucks, but when I did it was a very obviously photocopied bill. I never considered this was worthwhile, but after reading this, I assume an employee was distributing the small bills in exchange for real bills.

It came from Amazon, so it wasn't even real counterfeit money, but Chinese knockoff counterfeit money.