Counterfeit money getting better
Counterfeit currency is a plague that seems to descend upon Belize at irregular intervals and then disappears as quickly as it arrived. But the latest epidemic of bogus bills appears to be a hardier breed than most. News 5’s Ann-Marie Williams reports from the Central Bank.
Ann-Marie Williams, Reporting
Counterfeit notes in Belize used to surface mostly in the form of fifty and one hundred dollar bills. Today, with a fresh flood of ten and twenty dollar bogus notes in circulation, cashiers have been caught off guard. Vigilance, according to Central Bank’s Manager of Finance Dwain Davis, is the order of the day.
Dwain Davis, Manager of Finance, Central Bank
“From the time this thing broke, which is roughly about two weeks ago, I don’t think we have had more than fifty of these notes come in to us. The police probably have some. We haven’t had any calls, at least I haven’t had any calls from the police, but they may have some. The ones that have come to us, I haven’t seen more than about fifty of them. The public should be aware because it’s out there.”
Davis says that real Belizean money will carry three main security features: the silver security thread which forms a straight line when held up to the light, the watermark, which is the Sleeping Giant and a transparent feature on the front, which fits perfectly with the one on the back.
Dwain Davis
“We held up the real one to the light and this thread forms a perfect line. If you notice, that doesn’t happen in this case. Yes we see the watermark, and if we look at the see through feature, this does not form a perfect picture when compared to the real note.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“And it looks a bit fake too, the colour is not the same.”
Dwain Davis
“Right. So the public in accepting notes could look for these three features, these three features should be present in each note.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“And if it looks counterfeit it is counterfeit in most cases.”
Dwain Davis
“In most cases. If you look at this note and this note, you could see there is a little difference in the colour. It’s even a little smaller than the real note.”
The fifty and the one hundred dollar notes carry an extra feature, which makes them a bit more difficult to counterfeit.
Dwain Davis
“Let’s look at the hundreds. It will have the same feature, the security thread, the watermark, but the watermark in the hundred-dollar note is the jaguar and not the Sleeping Giant. It will have the see through feature and you can see the thread, Belize would be there and the denomination, a hundred dollars. But this note has a hologram in the form of a toucan. Held at an angle in the light, you should see the hundred in there. And again, this one ($50) has a metallic diagram in the form of an angelfish with Jade Head overlaid. So again, this is not an easy thing to replicate.”
According to Davis, a magnifying glass will show the words Central Bank of Belize in very fine print on both the front and the back of notes: something the counterfeit won’t have.
Dwain Davis
“Just above this bar here, if you look at it in a magnifying glass, you should see Central Bank of Belize just above this bar. That’s on the front. On the back of the note, just above this bar again, Central Bank of Belize should appear in microprinting.”
Davis advises businesses to purchase an ultra violet light for safety. When the twenty-dollar note is placed under the light, the Jabiru Stork, along with the denomination can easily be seen. These two features are not likely to be included on counterfeit cash.
Dwain Davis
“If we look at the bad note, we see nothing under the UV light.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“So then this ultra violet light would be a good recommendation for businesses to purchase?”
Dwain Davis
“I would advise businesses to try and get one of these lights.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“Is it available in Belize?”
Dwain Davis
“You should be able to get it in Belize.”
Whatever method you employ to safeguard your money, Davis says scepticism is best, because if it looks fake it probably is. Ann-Marie Williams for News 5.
Anyone who suspects that they have been given counterfeit currency should contact the nearest police station.
