How to spot counterfeit money: Urgent warning as counterfeit money is being found across Australia
- Counterfeit $50 banknotes are circulating around Darwin and Sydney
- Police are urging residents to be alert
Australians have been told to be wary of counterfeit money with counterfeit $50 notes circulating around the country.
NT Police said last week that the counterfeit banknotes had been turned in by a local company in Darwin.
“The note has a paper texture and the security window has visible flaws because it was glued on,” they said.
“The police urge everyone to be vigilant about spreading counterfeit money.”
Australians have been told to be wary of counterfeit money with counterfeit $50 notes circulating nationwide
NT Police said last week that the counterfeit banknotes had been turned in by a local company in Darwin
To the untrained eye, the $50 bills appear to look exactly like real currency, but upon closer inspection there is a visible circle around the clear part of the bill where the Confederate Cross is.
Similar botched notes are popping up in Sydney too, Daily Mail Australia can confirm.
A Sydney woman who came across a counterfeit $50 note quickly discovered it was a fake after she managed to ball it up.
The note was also easy to tear in half.
Queensland Police also issued a warning in May this year after counterfeit $100 bills were found in the Bundaberg area.
Anyone who comes across money they suspect is fake is urged to contact the police.
A Sydney woman who came across a counterfeit $50 note quickly discovered it was a fake after she managed to make a ball out of it
Counterfeit banknotes can also be easily torn in half
Last October, students at one of Sydney’s most prestigious schools were caught using fake money to coax a small business owner out of $100.
Store manager Jim Cho of Double Bay Newsagency claimed that a few students from Scots College in Bellevue Hill, in the east of the city, entered his store and asked to exchange four $50 bills for two $100 bills.
However, he claims that two of those $50 bills were counterfeit.
Jim Cho, manager of the Double Bay Newsagency store, claims Scots College students gave him fake money (pictured, the fake $50 students allegedly paid compared to a real bill)
It wasn’t until Mr. Cho checked the register that he noticed that two $50 bills were much shorter than the others – with the news agency losing $100 to the students.
He claims that the same group came in days later and tried to pull the same stunt again.
Mr Cho reported the incident to police, with Scots College confirming they were cooperating with investigators and the shop owner had since been reimbursed in full.