A system and method are provided for tracing bank notes or, specifically, counterfeit money. In one example of the tracing system, an automatic teller machine (ATM) electronically connected to one or more devices is provided. The one or more devices comprise a deposit device configured to receive an initial bank note; an image extraction device configured to extract one or more initial images from the initial bank note; a transaction log device configured to attach a transaction log to the one or more initial images, wherein the deposit device is further configured to receive a subsequent bank note, wherein the image extraction device is further configured to extract one or more subsequent images from the subsequent bank note; and a comparison device configured to compare the one or initial images to the one or more subsequent images in order to obtain a comparison result.