National Anti-Counterfeiting Bureau

QUICK FACTS

• The NACB delivers services from its site located in Ottawa.

Overview

The National Anti-Counterfeiting Bureau (NACB) is part of the RCMP's National Police Services (NPS) providing two areas of expertise: counterfeits and documents.

Counterfeits

The counterfeits component examines suspect travel documents including passports and visas, as well as currency and credit cards, to determine if they are genuine.

• conducts forensic examinations of Canadian and foreign banknotes and coins, travel documents and payment cards; and
• classifies and records information pertaining to banknotes and counterfeit travel documents and disseminates this information to Canadian law enforcement, and to foreign partner agencies on a bilateral basis.

Documents

The documents section examines questioned documents to identify author, method of production, and if they have been altered.

• conducts handwriting and hand printing comparisons;
• establishes the means, media and materials used to produce documents (e.g. typewriters, computer printers, photocopiers, facsimiles, cheque writers, rubber stamps, and other graphic art media);
• determines alterations, additions or deletions of documents;
• restores documents damaged by fire, water or other substances; and
• detects and deciphers latent or partially hidden indentations