HONG KONG: Hong Kong police seized an upgraded version of the fake 2003 HK$1,000 HSBC banknote, sparking fresh concerns about the circulation of counterfeit cash.
The fake, which was discovered by HSBC here the other day, incorporated two new features that were different from the previous batch of high-quality fakes, according to police.
The issue date of the new forgery had been changed from 2008 to 2009, according to chief inspector Cheng Ka-wai of the force’s commercial crime bureau.
“It is possible that because a lot of shops have refused to accept HK$1,000 banknotes issued in 2008, culprits simply change the date to 2009 and pass them off as genuine,” he said.
The new note also had an upgraded fluorescent barcode. Under ultraviolet light, the barcode found on the previous batch is dull, but the new one has a bright code.
“I can say this is quite similar to a genuine banknote’s fluorescent barcode,” Cheng said, adding that the inexperienced may fail to spot the fake security feature even if they have a genuine note on hand.
So far, only one such fake HK$1,000 bill has been seized and no arrests have been made. But the discovery prompted police to warn the public to be on guard.
The previous batch of high-quality fakes which copied the 2003 HSBC series surfaced in December 2013, sparking a festive-season counterfeit scare. Many retail outlets refused to accept HK$1,000 banknotes issued by HSBC and Bank of China from that year and people went to banks to swap their large bills for smaller notes.
Between December 23, 2013 and September 30 last year, police seized 252 fake HK$1,000 HSBC banknotes and 209 counterfeit Bank of China notes. Both were from the 2003 series. Police arrested 12 people.
Cheng said police were still working with other law enforcement agencies to trace the source of the fakes.
However, he stressed that the counterfeit situation in the city was not serious.
“Among one million Hong Kong banknotes in circulation, we find less than one fake. So the situation is not serious at all,” Cheng said.
Police appealed to the public to immediately hand over any suspected counterfeit banknotes to the police or a bank. Police also set up a hotline on 2860 5012.
People should not attempt to reuse any suspected counterfeit banknotes. Otherwise, they might be committing the offence of passing counterfeit notes under section 99 of the Crimes Ordinance, police said.
Police figures show the number of fake HK$1,000 notes seized increased by 214 per cent to 538 in the first nine months of last year over the same period in 2013.
The number of fake HK$500 banknotes rose by 63 per cent in the same period.
