Police warn public against counterfeit HK$500 and HK$1,000 banknotes circulating in the market during Lunar New Year

2020-01-09

9th January 2020 – (Hong Kong) Police urged the public to be wary of counterfeit HK$500 and HK$1,000 banknotes in the market during the Lunar New Year. During the first 10 months of 2019, police seized 993 and 759 HK$500 and HK$1,000 banknotes respectively. The total number has increased by 29% and 46% respectively as compared to 2018.

In general, a total of 2,844 counterfeit banknotes were seized in the first 10 months of 2019, 1,007 of them were fake HK$100 notes. There is online rumour recently that there are many HK$1,000 counterfeit banknotes purportedly issued by Bank of China. All of them contain the same serial number of ‘DU580682’.

According to sources, this batch of counterfeit banknotes has appeared since 2018. A total of 104 banknotes with the particular serial number were seized by police in 2018 and a total of 53 were also confiscated between January and October in 2019.

Police advise the public to go to Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s website to familiarise themselves with the design of the genuine banknotes. If any counterfeit banknotes were found, they should inform the police immediately.

Source: Dimsum Daily