“Movie Money” increased in France

The event has continued to grow since April. The circulation of “movie money” in the real economy has become a real problem in France, the country most affected in Europe by this rather unusual traffic. “Movie money” is actually the name given to fake paper money used as props on movie sets. But these denominations, usually 20 and 50 euros, have recently appeared on the tills of French shops.

According to the Central Office for the Repression of Counterfeiting (OCRFM), quoted by the Huffington Post, the phenomenon “appeared in Europe around April. It started with a few copies, now we have several thousand”. About 42% of European “movie money” is currently circulating in France and close to a hundred investigations have been opened in three months. The methods that make it possible to arrest many people following the parcels intercepted by the customs, but it is difficult to prevent the event.

It’s easy to find tickets

It must be said that it is easy to take this counterfeit money and sell it in small shops or fast food restaurants. It can be bought online on “Chinese sites like Aliexpress” for a ridiculous price “under 10 euros for 100 copies”, explained to France Info the divisional commander Alain Bateau, deputy head of OCRFM. These cuts are easy to recognize, in the upper left corner of the ticket, under the flag of the European Union, one can read the mention “Movie money”. It replaces the signature of European Central Bank boss Mario Draghi. In addition, in the margin, appears the sentence “it is not legal. It will be used for motion props” (“This ticket is not legal tender. Its use is reserved for the cinema”).

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Fake notes are easy to spot, but popular in France. And for good reason: references to “accessories” found on banknotes allow manufacturers to avoid 30 years in prison and 450,000 euros in fines that have been imposed in France on classic forgeries. They only risk a sentence of one year in prison and 15,000 euros, because the cuts “are the same size as real euros”, explained the commander of the division Alain Bateau.