When paying at the checkout, it usually has to be done quickly. Hardly anyone takes the time to banknotes to take a closer look – but that can be dangerous. Because again and again is deceptively real counterfeit money in circulation, also in francs.
Recently, a case in Bad Windsheim known, as reported by the publishing house Nürnberger Presse. But the fake 20-euro bill is by no means an isolated case. According to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), in 2021 123,301 counterfeit banknotes taken out of circulation. Overall, this is less than in previous years, especially in Bavaria is the number of false notes though gone up. In the current case from Middle Franconia it is a matter of so-called “Movie Money” or “prop copy” offered as a prop or play money. However, such banknotes actually have to in size and color distinguishable from real banknotes – and must not be used in regular payment transactions.
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Nevertheless, such “altered banknote images” (VBNA) almost half of all counterfeit money, which was discovered in and outside of payments. That’s going out the federal situation picture of the BKA from the year 2021. VBNA are recorded by the authorities separately from the classic forgeries. Because these are cash copies “with additional, more or less conspicuous textual or pictorial changes“.
In case of “Movie Money” stands in the margin under the abbreviations of the European Central Bank: “This is not legal. It is to be used for motion props”. In English: “This is not legal. It is to be used as a prop.” Under the European flag in the top left corner “Movie Money”. There should actually be the signature of an ECB president. Also, under the word Euro at the bottom just says “prop”, i.e. props. On the original, under “EURO”, the same word can be seen in Greek script (EYPO) and Cyrillic script (EBPO).
“You can tell these banknotes are fake just by looking at them”, stresses Bundesbank board member Johannes Beermann. the Coloursthe design and the size of the banknotes are with such VBNA, however identical to real euro bills. And the mere possibility “of reproductions being confused by the public with genuine euro banknotes” is sufficient for a criminal offence. “Movie money”, as it was also discovered in Franconia, is therefore classified by the Deutsche Bundesbank’s counterfeit money analysis center as “suitable for deception in payment transactions”. Within the meaning of the Penal Code So it’s counterfeit money.
Feeling, seeing, tipping: This is the best way to deal with counterfeit money
So what if you don’t look closely and get fake money? “Anyone who accepts counterfeit money and recognizes it too late suffers damage in several respects: he gets no compensationand anyone who knowingly passes on counterfeit money makes a fool of himself punishable“, warns the BKA. One threatens imprisonment of at least one year. So you should look twice at banknotes. “All counterfeits currently in circulation are to be checked according to the ‘Feel – see – tilt‘ to recognize as a fake,” according to the experts.
- Feel: Check the strength of the paper, counterfeits are usually of inferior quality. Check tactile elements such as the relief of the image, the bumps on the edges or the hologram strips.
- See: Counterfeit money usually has no security features. Is the watermark or hologram portrait missing? It can be helpful to put a banknote that is undoubtedly genuine next to it.
- tipping: Some security features only become visible when tilted, for example the rainbow colors in the hologram strip, the emerald number or the glossy stripe on the back.
If in doubt, you can also use the money at the nearest bank or the Bundesbank get checked. If you suspect that you have accidentally accepted counterfeit money, report it to the police immediately. It is best to put the money in an envelope so that the officers can examine it for fingerprints.
Overall less counterfeit money in Germany
Criminals have been increasingly relying on “movie money” for a number of years. Mostly it is made in China and then sold worldwide via the free internet or the dark web. In Bavaria, the State Criminal Police Office had already warned of counterfeit bills in 2019, and the number of reports of this type of counterfeit money on social networks also increased in 2020. In the meantime, the trend seems to be declining again. Data from the first half of 2022 shows a slight decline, as announced by the Bundesbank. But overall, counterfeiters are now having a harder time in Germany, especially since the corona pandemic. with 19,789 counterfeit billsseized in the first six months of 2022, this is the lowest since 2013.
“This is thanks to the high-quality security features on the banknotes and the Bundesbank’s information campaigns and training courses, but also to the good cooperation with the law enforcement authorities,” explained Beermann. This is how officials raised one in July 2021 large counterfeiting workshop in Cologne the end. According to the information, they secured 600 ready-made 20-euro flowers and material for more than 10,000 other counterfeits. After this crackdown on criminals, the number of fake 20 euro bills in Germany in the first six months of 2022 compared to the second half of 2021 by 16.4 percent.
In 2021, the 20 euro note was almost the most counterfeited. According to BKA statistics, more than 35,000 fakes secured. The most common was “fake fifties” blown, here it was round 40,000 counterfeit copies. Basically, notes with a smaller denomination such as 10, 20 or 50 euros are counterfeited more often, they make about three quarters of all false notes the end. “Movie Money” and other variants of VBNA, however, have caused a surge in the 200 and 500 euro bills taken care of. The number of fake 200 euro bills was almost twice as high as in 2020, the number of 500-euro counterfeits rose by about a third. “Such notes were found almost exclusively in the context of large-scale police seizures as VBNA variants,” says the BKA report.
Ultimately, however, the chance that you will encounter counterfeit money in everyday life is very small. According to the Bundesbank accounted for in the first half of the year in Germany five counterfeit banknotes per 10,000 inhabitants. Across Europe there were ten counterfeits per 10,000 inhabitants.
