Toronto Renters' Forum

Further to my Sunday evening headline, I have some pictures to post in the wake of that CBC Montreal item about counterfeit bills.

As reported by the CBC's Gloria Henriquez, the guy in the clip said to watch out for blurry, foggy or dull-looking holograms (I am paraphrasing)

So after watching the clip I reached into my pocket and sure enough, one of two $20 bills - fresh from the bank machine at Don Mills and Lawrence E. - matched the Youtube description. It's a very subtle difference that most people probably wouldn't catch. But then I noticed that the "greenish-yellow" paint on the mylar substrate, on the funky bill was starting to flake off!

It gets worse. I'll post more later but for starters check out these two images. One bill looks "normal" but on the other one, towards the Queen's ear a sans serif capital letter "T" goes right through the mylar. Give me until midnight (50 minutes say, I am making a salad) and then re-load this message posting!
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Ok, here are some images, as promised. It is just after midnight on Monday April 27, 2026.

I hope to heaven I'm wrong, but after watching that CBC clip about the counterfeit money, I glanced at what I had in my pocket.

One of two $20.00 bills I had looked ok, but the other one was dulled or foggy or not as sharp, as per the guy in the CBC video clip. Then I noticed what appeared to be the paint being scratched off the mylar!

Looking more closely, against bright illumination a fairly crisp, sans serif capital letter "T" is visible towards the Queen's ear! Huh?!

https://torontorentersforum.com/images/adminimages/20260426_1842h.png

This was hard to do, but I first recorded a view of both bills on my cell phone. Then I held the cell phone up to bright light in an open window, and in my left hand I held the funky bill up beside the cell phone's screen. (It's a small phone.)

I then recorded an image with my backup phone which is a Samsung S21, ergo one of the newer ones with the better camera hardware and software. The anomalous letter "T" is marked with a red arrow. The "T" is etched out of the greenish-yellow paint of the $20 bill and it is best viewed against a bright light.

Next, I zoomed in on the image and made a screenshot:

https://torontorentersforum.com/images/adminimages/Screenshot_20260426-203220_Gallery.jpg

Now here is the same screenshot, and I've draw a red arrow towards where the mysterious letter "T" occurs towards the Queen's ear.

https://torontorentersforum.com/images/adminimages/20260426_203316.jpg

...and finally I sketched in what the "white" (when illuminated) letter "T" looks like, to my naked eye. I did this on the bus with my finger; I wanted to send the screenshots to a friend in Ottawa.

https://torontorentersforum.com/images/adminimages/20260426_203417.jpg

In closing you've probably heard the admonishment "watch your money", but this is taking things to new lows!!
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