US prison turns to tech to combat counterfeit money

A jail in the US is using a sophisticated scanning system to stop counterfeit money being used to top up inmates' accounts.

Bergen County jail in New Jersey has installed deposit kiosk that automatically detects fake bills and prevents fraud as new inmates are booked into the facility.

The unit - an OffenderConnect intake kiosk from Global Tel*Link - has already rejected counterfeit cash that was being deposited into inmates' trust fund accounts on two separate occasions.

"Detecting counterfeit bills while being deposited by inmates at booking, rather than when the deposits are taken to the bank prevents the Sheriff's Office from absorbing financial losses," said Global Tel*Link in a statement.

It also identifies the inmate possessing the bills, according to Lieutenant Michael Russo of the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office.

"We have been hit with phony bills in the past," said Russo. "If you don’t catch them, the chain of custody is broken, so even if you suspect who passed the bills, you can’t tie it to them," he added.