Tricks about using banknotes in China

[zozzen]

Counterfeit money isn't news anymore, but there're a lot creative ways to put your life with them now.

In Guangzhou, I paid a RMB100 Note to a taxi driver. He took the money, and after a few second, he said my banknote was fake. Really? I took the money back, but the banknote was apparently different from the note i gave him. But how can i prove this? As I was busy at this time, i let him go, and RMB100 was taken as bad debt in my company's account.

But in return, I got one of the most useful trick in China now. When i shared this story with a shopkeeper, she told me a trick---- read a few digit of banknote's number aloud before you give it to anyone. This proved to be efficient at solving some everyday unnecessary problems.

Last month when i was in the Carrefour in Kunming before the spring festival, and gave RMB100 to the cashier lady, she insisted that I only paid her RMB50. What? As far as I understand, RMB100 is a big sum to cashier. They check it carefully every time, and almost no one would forget they had received RMB100 note. Without a single querrel, I told her "5968"--- the last four digit in my banknote, and every problem was solved.

Similar incident happens for its second time in a few week--- not sure if that's because everyone needs money for the Spring holiday. But this trick helps me a lot.

Do you have any tricks for everyday problem too? Share it with us.

[skylee]

nice tip.

[roddy]

The taxi driver one is relatively common - still extremely rare, and I've never come across it personally, but heard of it more often. I'm generally fairly relaxed about this kind of stuff and certainly wouldn't go the lengths of reading numbers aloud. I'd only forget them anyway. If you are feeling adventurous you can always phone the police to ask them to come and arrest you for passing fake currency. Not sure what the best thing to do is - I'd be inclined to ask them to take another look as you are sure it wasn't fake and anyway you don't have any other money, and hope they back down and realize that all of a sudden it isn't fake.

Only once have I had a note I was certain was fake (I gave it to McDonalds in the end, thus striking a blow against global capitalism), plenty that have looked a bit dubious but have been accepted with no trouble. I'm wary of breaking 100s at places that have a high percentage of passing-through customers - tourist attractions, train stations, etc - but rarely need to, so . . .

More worrying are the occasional reports you see in the press of fake notes from ATMs - try arguing that one with the bank

[superlhm]

I am a Chinese but I have never met such a thing myself, I only hear about it several times. Even for me I don't know how to deal with it. Your tip is very good and I may use it when I go back to China.

I do not check the notes when people give the changes to me. That is why I received the fake money twice. Both of them were from the sellers I know quite well, then I went back and talked with them and finally I got the real money back.

[gougou]

So how would remembering the last few digits help in a taxi cab? Would you ask the driver to pull out all his money and check the last four digits on each? What if he doesn't give you the bill you gave him? Jut that you insist that you gave him another bill doesn't mean anybody's going to believe you, no matter whether you claim to know some digits or not. In a supermarket, where your bill will be lying on top of the stash in the cash register, this is more likely to work, of course.

I gave it to McDonalds in the end

How did you do that? The three times I got a fake 100, that was the first place I went, and they always spotted it. Maybe you don't look as much like a scam as I do?

Ended up giving one to a clothing seller - he overcharged so he deserved it, another to a taxi driver that was supposed to take my parents to Badaling but took 'em some place halfway; the third's one such a bad fake that I've given up trying and keep it as a reminder to be less stupid).

[self-taught-mba]

Happens more frequently around touristy areas like in Tiananmen Square.

We even warn our customers about it because it is so frequent. I first learned about this two years ago.

Such a common scheme and so subtle on so quickly happens that the foreigner doesn't even know he has been cheated.

[roddy]

Maybe you don't look as much like a scam as I do?

Sounds plausible.

[zozzen]

So how would remembering the last few digits help in a taxi cab? Would you ask the driver to pull out all his money and check the last four digits on each? What if he doesn't give you the bill you gave him? Jut that you insist that you gave him another bill doesn't mean anybody's going to believe you, no matter whether you claim to know some digits or not. In a supermarket, where your bill will be lying on top of the stash in the cash register, this is more likely to work, of course.

That's the virtue of cheater. They don't cheat anyone who know they're cheated. Every time I read the last few digit aloud, I just want to let the taxi driver know that it's fine to say my banknote is fake, but give me back what i had given you. If they ignore what i do and return me "their" banknote, that's burglary and they'll face a big trouble. Would the police trust a taxi driver that come from other provinces or a well-dressed tourist? The taxi driver surely knows the answer.

[roddy]

I see your point, but only one in a thousand taxi rides will the driver think "Damn, this guy is smart, better not cheat him.". The other 999 times the driver thinks you are mad.

[zozzen]

but if i'm really unlucky to receive a counterfeit, i think it's coldblooded and crude to find a shopkeeper or a waiter to be my victim. Most of them earn RMB 500-800 a month, and a policy that a cashier is accountable for counterfeit is very common in China. When i was in China, i met an unexperienced waitress who received two RMB100 counterfeit money in a month. (40% of her RMB500 salary). How could she live at that month?

[self-taught-mba]

When i was in China, i met an unexperienced waitress who received two RMB100 counterfeit money in a month. (40% of her RMB500 salary). How could she live at that month?

Very good point. And I completely agree. I think gougou wasn't suggesting that and somehow passed it off on someone who did him wrong or was trying to cheat people to begin with.

[zozzen]

I see your point, but only one in a thousand taxi rides will the driver think "Damn, this guy is smart, better not cheat him.". The other 999 times the driver thinks you are mad.

I can't read what 999 drivers think , but Chinese seems to be very understanding about these measures. At home, I seldom see anyone who examine the banknotes as careful and detailed as the staff in China. This can be rude to me, because they seem to assume that I'm immoral to spend counterfeit , but in China I learned to adapt to it. You just don't know who will spend fake money. Some may use it as infrequent as you did, and some're simply criminals.

[self-taught-mba]

I agree with zozzen.

reading the numbers out loud demonstrates that your hip to the game. Sure they could always deny it flat out but that's more trouble than it's worth. It's easier to find someone that doesn't read out the numbers to them because they can always blame it on a difference of opinion and claim that the note is the same.

I walked into the variance of the Tea scam and I made it pretty clear that I wasn't in a pay for some ladies drink, by refusing to take the glass that was presented to me - even an empty one. It was just about letting them know I know it's going on and not going for it.

[zozzen]

Besides RMB100, my friends told me that RMB20, RMB50 counterfeit is getting common too.

More amazingly, there's counterfeit RMB1 coin and i got one. I passed it to a waiter and we make a small note that teaches staff how to distinguish fake coins. ( it's actually a reminder for potential cheaters to read )

[zozzen]

I walked into the variance of the Tea scam and I made it pretty clear that I wasn't in a pay for some ladies drink, by refusing to take the glass that was presented to me - even an empty one. It was just about letting them know I know it's going on and not going for it.

But beware the minimum charge. Minimum charge per head is illegal in most provinces, but it's getting very common now.

A trick my friend taught me: If the min. charge is unreasonable, say "Okay, i will go to 物價局綜合法規處 tomorrow". If 物價局 decide to stick a knife at a shop, a shop owner will be at a trouble and a bribe can surely be more than a minimum charge.

You may be also interested at these terms too:

《中华人民共和国消费者权益保护法》

《中华人民共和国价格法》

Usage:

"國家規定不能收最低消費, 你懂不懂國家價格法? 知不知道消費者權益保護法? " (in high pitch) "甚麼? 沒有這規定? 我也不跟你辯, 我明天到物價局綜合法規處問一問, 由他們跟你說好了. " (In mild tone) 你宰客就找些傻B 嘛, 對不對? 我在中國生活了多少年啊, 對不對? 找我來當傻B, 靠! !" (spitting)

[liuzhou]

I have a collection of fake fen notes.

About 7 years ago, Guangzhou taxi drivers were notorious for passing off fake ¥10 notes.

I was really happy the day I passed one back and got away with it.

[self-taught-mba]

the schools going to have to be going really bad before I have to worry about counterfeit one RMB coins:mrgreen:

Simplified for the rest of us:

物价局综合法规处 tomorrow". If 物价局 decide to stick a knife at a shop, a shop owner will be at a trouble and a bribe can surely be more than a minimum charge.

You may be also interested at these terms too:

《中华人民共和国消费者权益保护法》

《中华人民共和国价格法》

Usage:

"国家规定不能收最低消费, 你懂不懂国家价格法? 知不知道消费者权益保护法? " (in high pitch) "什么? 没有这规定? 我也不跟你辩, 我明天到物价局综合法规处问一问, 由他们跟你说好了. " (In mild tone) 你宰客就找些傻B 嘛, 对不对? 我在中国生活了多少年啊, 对不对? 找我来当傻B, 靠! !" (spitting)

[roddy]

reading the numbers out loud demonstrates that your hip to the game. Sure they could always deny it flat out but that's more trouble than it's worth. It's easier to find someone that doesn't read out the numbers to them because they can always blame it on a difference of opinion and claim that the note is the same.

But does anyone actually think that the problem is so widespread it's worth doing this. Maybe I've been remarkably lucky, but in seven and a bit years nobody has tried this particular scam. Going around reading numbers of your note out loud is just going to give the impression that you think everyone you give a hundred RMB note to is going to attempt to scam you. Personally I'd rather take the very small risk of an attempted scam and deal with it then than do that. Zozzen, how often have you been hit by this, in how many years in China? Maybe it is a lot more common in some areas, I don't know.

[gougou]

But does anyone actually think that the problem is so widespread it's worth doing this.

Agree. When I received a fake from a taxi driver the way zozzen described, I was angry and spent quite some time thinking how to avoid that in the future. In the end, I decided that having received one fake in maybe a hundred times that I've used a 100 in a cab, it just wasn't worth the effort. Plus, I was happy to have it when shortly after that taxi driver tried to scam us.

[self-taught-mba]

But does anyone actually think that the problem is so widespread it's worth doing this. Maybe I've been remarkably lucky, but in seven and a bit years nobody has tried this particular scam. Going around reading numbers of your note out loud is just going to give the impression that you think everyone you give a hundred RMB note to is going to attempt to scam you.

I agree. I don't do it with every note for that very reason because I don't want to offend people. We inform people about it when I go to those high-risk area is where it seems to happen a lot (eg street vendors that sell little touristy things near Tiananmen Square)

I only do it in those situations where I'm already a little bit suspicious or that lend themselves to that kind of situation.