Bank ATMs said to be dispensing counterfeit money

Wondering who stiffed you with fake bills? The answer may be as close as your neighborhood bank.

Automatic teller machines apparently have been spewing out funny money, much to the dismay of consumers. The news comes after the Changhua County Government notified the finance ministry of numerous instances of people being given counterfeit bills by ATMs.

Unidentified sources with the banking industry said there are two possible reasons why the ATMs are dispensing bogus bills.

First, bank tellers who carelessly accept counterfeit bills may be unwilling to report the incident to their supervisors out of fear they may be required to reimburse the bank. So instead, they attempt to hide their mistake by putting the bills into the ATMs. Second, bank employees may be colluding with counterfeiters by substituting fake bills for the real ones.