Winner of the Bank of Canada’s 2009 Law Enforcement Award of Excellence for Counterfeit Deterrence, the National Anti-Counterfeiting Bureau lends its expertise in the areas of counterfeiting and document security to RCMP’s overall enforcement efforts.

When the Bank of Canada recently honored the National Anti-Counterfeiting Bureau to receive its 2009 Law Enforcement Award of Excellence for Counterfeit Deterrence, it singled out the specialized law enforcement service for its critical behind-the-scenes role in providing essential forensic services and support to front-line law enforcement personnel across Canada. It also recognized the NACB’s solid reputation among the law enforcement community for expert analysis, trusted guidance, and professional support in the field of counterfeit and document examination.

Delivering services from its site in Ottawa, the National Anti-Counterfeiting Bureau (NACB) is part of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s (RCMP) National Police Services (NPS) and is well known for its two areas of expertise: counterfeits and documents.

 

Counterfeit Busters – NACB agents examine suspect travel documents, including passports and visas, as well as currency and credit cards, to determine if they are genuine. They do this by:

• Conducting forensic examinations of Canadian and foreign banknotes and coins, travel documents and payment cards
• Classifying and recording information pertaining to banknotes and counterfeit travel documents, disseminating this information to Canadian law enforcement and to foreign partner agencies on a bilateral basis

 

Document Authenticators – NACB’s documents section examines questionable documents to identify the author, method of production, and if they have been altered. This is performed by:

• Conducting handwriting and hand printing comparisons
• Establishing the means, media and materials used to produce documents (e.g. typewriters, computer printers, photocopiers, facsimiles, check writers, rubber stamps, and other graphic art media)
• Determining alterations, additions or deletions of documents
• Restoring documents damaged by fire, water or other substances
•  Detecting and deciphering latent or partially hidden indentations

In 2008, the NACB processed and classified 129,320 banknotes – most of which ere found to be counterfeit.