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afrol.com, 13 September - Considering that the Forensic Science Laboratory of the South African Police Service receives an increasing number of so called "Black Dollar" cases the public needs to be warned of this ever increasing phenomenon. Supt Gerhard Vermeulen, Section Head of the Trace Analysis Section at the Scientific Analysis Unit of the FSL, explains how the scheme works: The so-called "Black Dollar" scam entails duping victims into believing that pieces of black or coated paper can be turned into original bank notes. To convince the victim that it is possible to make his own money, one or two original bank notes is prepared with a black substance and placed between the other pieces of worthless black coated paper that is cut to resemble the original bank notes. There is a clear distinction between the original bank notes and the so-called black coated paper notes. The difference between the original bank notes and the fake bank notes is sometimes clearly visible to the naked eye. One is able to sometimes observe the back ground impression of the original bank note through the black coating while there are no visible back ground impressions on the fake bank notes. There is a clear difference in texture between the original bank notes and the worthless pieces of black coated paper. It is simply a white piece of paper covered with a black coating. In the presence of the victim the con-man will treat the coated bank notes with a "developing solution" which then removes the black coating from a genuine bank note. What really happens is that only the coating on the notes are removed and it appears as if an original note was created. A kit, consisting of note sized, coated pieces of ordinary paper with all the necessary chemicals to develop the papers, is then sold to the victim. The costs involve can run up to 250.000 rand (US$ 35.000) for a kit that, according to the con-man can create money to the value of anything from a million to two million rand (US$ 280.000). All kinds of instructions are then given to the victim of how to prepare the chemicals. For example, the chemicals must be mixed and placed in a fridge for 96 hours to give the mixture a chance to cure before it will be ready for use as a "developing" agent. The only reason for this is to give the con-man a chance to disappear and never to be heard of or seen again. Needless to say is that this scheme is a deception as it is impossible to make original bank notes by simply treating normal pieces of paper with chemicals. The production of bank notes involves a very complicated printing process amongst other highly sophisticated technology involved in the manufacturing of original bank notes. Surprisingly, people from all walks of life, fall prey to this trickery. A word of advice to the public is to be less credulous, there is not shortcut to fortune.
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