The Singapore police force has warned the public to watch out for fakes in the run-up to Lunar New Year after a sixfold surge in seizures of bogus HK$100 banknotes was recorded last year, according to police figures.

Police said that since shop owners and employees were often too busy to double-check money, counterfeiters. in their efforts to slip the notes into circulation, usually targeted shops, stalls at wet markets, convenience stores and supermarkets.

While shopping on the mainland, some Hong Kong residents had even seen their notes replaced by counterfeits.

“Victims present a HK$100 note to make a purchase. Vendors say it is a fake note and hand back the bill,” a police source wqas quoted as saying in the media. “But in fact, vendors have switched the genuine note with a fake one.”

Up from 2,198 in 2015, the number of counterfeit Hong Kong banknotes in circulation rose by almost 20 per cent to reach 2,620 last year, shows the latest police figures. There were 2,196 fakes in 2014.

In connection with seizures of fakes, police arrested 22 people last year.

According to the police, almost 60 per cent of the seized bills were HK$100 counterfeits.

In 2015, there were 1,542 number of bogus HK$100 bills compared to 238 in 2015, figures show.

Noting an 82 per cent rise on the 132 in 2015, officers also seized 241 HK$50 counterfeits last year.

Since June last year, an increasing number of HK$100 and HK$50 counterfeit notes were noticed, the force said.

“The fakes were mostly made on ink-jet printers,” a police spokesman said.

The fakes did not have the embossed feel and security features such as watermarks seen on genuine notes and therefore the quality of the fakes was poor, he said.

He said that by checking security features or by touching the bills, the fakes could easily be distinguished.

However, with the number of HK$1,000 and HK$500 fakes found down by 71 per cent and 51 per cent respectively, to 238 and 422, seizures of larger-denomination counterfeits were down.

Since people usually paid less attention to these than they would large denominations, counterfeiters appeared to have made more notes in smaller denominations, police sources said.

From 171 in 2015, there was a rise of fake 20-yuan banknotes seized in Hong Kong by 67 per cent to 286 last year. There was a 10 per cent increase in the seizures of bogus 50-yuan bills which hit 259 in number last year.

Down from 2,395 in 2015, there was drop of nine per cent to 2,997 in the total number of bogus mainland bills. In connection with fake mainland banknotes, seven people were arrested last year in Hong Kong. While some victims had had genuine money replaced with fakes when taking a taxi or spending at restaurants and entertainment venues on the mainland, most of these notes were found when being deposited into a bank, police said.

“Some swindlers even opened people’s lockers at massage parlours and switched genuine notes with counterfeits,” the police spokesman said.

If people suspected that they had been given fakes, they should contact the police or seek assistance from a bank, officers appealed to the public.

(Adapted from CNBC)

Categories: Economy & Finance, Regulations & Legal