Alfredo, our landlord, gave us some tips when we arrived. On a real bill, the number in the corner is printed holographically, so that if you hold it up towards the light and tilt it back and forth the color changes from green to blue. A real bill has a watermark in the white space on the left, duplicating the portrait on the bill, which is clearly visible when you hold it up against the light. If you rub a real bill between your thumb and forefinger you can feel its coarse texture. Here's what real money looks like (click on the photo for a larger image):
Alfredo was able to show us a counterfeit bill that someone had passed off on one of his tenants. It looked real to us, but as he explained it all we could see that the phony was very smooth to the touch, the color of the number did not change with the light, and there was no watermark.
(Phony money is only a problem on the streets, not in ATMs and established stores.)
What makes this interesting is that the police do not confiscate the bad bills. In a dispute with a taxi driver or a vendor, you can ask a cop to examine the bill and determine whether it's real or counterfeit. If it's a phony, he'll tell you so -- and then hand the bill back to you.
Counterfeit bills are thus a game of 'tag, you're it.' When someone gets a bad bill, they try to pass it off on someone else to recoup their loss. So far, at least, we haven't been tagged.
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