Money Orders have been a trusted instrument for a long period of time. Postal Money Orders (PMOs) are generally regarded as one of the most difficult financial documents to counterfeit. Money order fraud is specifically not reimbursed by Western Union and the victim is required to go through local police to attempt to recover lost funds. The different ways in which Money Orders are protected to prevent them from being counterfeited are:
- Watermarks. Telltale watermark when held up to the light should reveal images of Benjamin Franklin, repeated on the left side (top to bottom).
- Dark security strip running alongside the watermark (top to bottom), just to the right. If held to the light, a microfiber strip will show tiny letters “USPS” along its length, facing backward and forward.
- Rainbow of inked patterns and tones.
- PMOs are printed on crisp, clean, textured paper stock.
- Maximum value of $1000 for domestic (US) postal money orders, and $700 for International Postal Money Orders.
- Denominations appear in two locations. If the denomination amounts are discolored, that indicates that they have been erased.
- Ultraviolet features include the above mentioned micro-fiber strip that glows red, and the PMO number on the reverse side and the bottom which will also appear red under UV light.