Jason (& Others following):

I am not sure of the UK laws, so I cannot assume they are the same as the US. In the US, whomever ends up with the fake, eats it (takes the monetary loss). That is why merchants are so careful once they have eaten a few. When a bank acquires a fake they send it to authorities, AND they try to trace it back to the depositor and debit his/her account. IF you take a fake to a bank to verify it IS fake the bank will confiscate it (by law).

Fakes are more plentiful in circulation than you can imagine. Most are (unknowingly) passed from hand to hand until they hit a bank, where all currency is run through a machine that counts and verifies them. Other places that handle LARGE volumes of cash, like Casinos do the same thing (Gene Trimble can expand on that). Most fakes passed are $20's and $100's but other denominations surface as well.

Before I was going to raise the flag on this guy, I wanted to have an idea of his intent. Was he trying to defraud me or was he just plane ignorant? He never asked a price nor did he ever ask for money, even when I asked him to fly to Houston. So, I thought about my own situation. I have a few counterfeits in my collection and I know which ones they are. What if I died and my son wanted to sell some of my notes? When counterfeits (very few) would his intent be to defraud? This COULD be the situation. I gave the guy the benefit of the doubt. Anyone have any BORLAND FAKES? Heirs could be caught in the same situation.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Selling a fake (Counterfeit) and stating so is still illegal but the 'intent' is not to defraud. It is illegal to own counterfeit notes (I am on my way to send all mine in- I have just been busy the last few years ). AND mine are labeled as such- so they don't get 'accidently' put into circulation. PLUS, while I am breaking the law, 50+ years of collecting and NEVER having passed one, is a 'better' than nothing defense (MAYBE ).

I HAVE RECIEVED an email (at the time of THIS post) that did in fact list ALL the original people emailed and he states that it is indeed fake and apologizes for the intrusion.

I am not sure if an Indonesion or Canadian note would be scrutinized OR confiscated by a US bank, unless it was up for exchange. He probably went to a local bank and an untrained teller may have said, "Looks real." I will never know. I don't think the guy was a scammer, I really think he was selling a note that would bring in some cash for his kindergarten school he is running in Indonesia. His landlord (for the school) is not extending his lease past the next few years and he is trying to raise funds to get into a new building. All of this is checking out to be true. A REAL scammer would never allow so much information out. BUT I am not Sherlock Holmes, and I COULD be wrong! I am doing what "I" think is right in "THIS" situation. I am taking NO action.