What happens if I receive a counterfeit bill at the ATM?

ATMs are devices used daily by thousands of Peruvians to carry out various banking operations such as withdrawing money quickly and easily or checking the balance of their bank account. However, on some occasions, the financial machine may issue bills that are counterfeit or deliver an amount less than the requested amount.

If one of these unfortunate situations happened to you, you have to know that not everything is lost, since there are institutions such as the Superintendency of Banking, Insurance and AFP (SBS) and the National Institute of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property ( Indecopi), which provide some recommendations to compensate for this situation and recover your money.

What happens if I receive a counterfeit bill from an ATM?

If you faced the unpleasant situation of going to the ATM to withdraw your money and it threw out a counterfeit bill, the Superintendence of Banking. Insurance and AFP (SBS) recommends making a copy of the counterfeit bill and keeping the voucher to record a claim with the bank.

Subsequently, the bank where this problem occurred will ask you for proof of said transaction to evaluate what happened and will rely on the security video records to rule out any fraud. Let us remember that financial institutions have a security system that allows them to identify the bills issued by ATMs.

Likewise, the Central Reserve Bank of Peru (BCRP) has an online consultation module on its web platform to recognize the series and numbering of all banknotes to differentiate them from counterfeit ones HERE.

What can I do if I receive less of the money I requested?

If the amount disbursed was not the same as what you withdrew at an ATM, Indecopi states that the procedure to be executed by the banking entity will be to review the cash balance related to the transaction date and the required currency to check if there was a surplus. of bills.

In this sense, the bank must verify if the transaction was carried out correctly, as well as the amount of money requested, the card used and the entry into the personal code.

If I was given a torn or damaged bill from an ATM, can I exchange them?

In case an ATM issues bills with tears, stains, writing or adhesive tape patches, please pay attention to the following information. According to the Central Reserve Bank, these can be changed at any branch of the financial system, if you meet the following requirements:

• If the ticket is torn, the person who exchanges it must possess more than half of it.
• The ticket subject to exchange must have the watermark that corresponds to its denomination.
• Have at least one series and one of its two complete numberings.
• The ticket must be authentic on both the front and back.
• Remember that the numbering of the bills changes color and this particularity is essential for the change.
• If the banknotes are old, keep in mind that the security thread is located in the central part, while those issued from 2021 onwards are located on the left side.

Check if a bill is fake, via BCRP

If you want to check if a bill is fake, enter the Central Reserve Bank module and check its database to check the authenticity of the money. Next, follow these steps:

• Go to the Central Reserve Bank website and choose the option ‘series query and numbering of counterfeit banknotes’.
• Then, select the ticket nomination to consult and its design.
• Next, register the series and numbering of your ticket, enter the captcha code and click on ‘Consult‘.
• If your bill is fake, the message will appear in red.