Part III: Slot Machine Cheating · Physical Cheating Methods · #5.22
Bleached/Washed Bills
How it works
A counterfeiting technique specifically designed to defeat bill validators and counterfeit detection pens. The forger takes a low-denomination genuine bill ($1 or $5), dips it in a bleaching solution until all markings are removed, leaving only the blank genuine currency paper. The blank paper is then reprinted using a laser printer with a higher-denomination design ($100). Because the paper is genuine U.S. currency paper, it passes the “pen test” (iodine-based counterfeit detection pens) and feels authentic. In 1990s Las Vegas and Atlantic City, Russian counterfeiters passed $650,000 in bleached counterfeit $100 bills into slot machines, then cashed out and received legitimate currency.
Where it appears
All bill-accepting devices, including slot machines, change machines, and kiosks.
On the record
The U.S. Secret Service estimates significant losses from washed notes annually. The “superdollar” (or “supernote”) – a counterfeit $100 bill of such high quality that it was suspected to be produced by a foreign government – caused major problems in the 2000s. When discovered, bill acceptor manufacturers issue firmware updates within hours or days to detect new counterfeits.
Detection & preventionADVISORY
The paid halfHow a monitoring room catches bleached/washed bills, and what stops it recurring, written for the desk, not the reader.
Detection and prevention is the paid layer. It opens on all 400 methods with the downloadable edition, or with any paid plan.
Every subscription tier carries full access to the Cheats & Scams Library, Professional upward: the detection and prevention notes on all 400 methods, plus the searchable edition as a download.
Already subscribed? Sign in and this opens.
Published as a detection reference for surveillance, compliance and gaming-operations professionals. Thresholds and tuning are set by the property. Nothing here is instruction: the method is described so it can be recognised.