Hong Kong police issue warning as more fake banknotes enter circulation

The Hong Kong police have warned the public about counterfeit banknotes amid a sharp rise in fake currency changing hands in the city from January to April.

The police seized 3,396 fake notes of various denominations – with a face value of HK$2.55 million (S$440,260) – over the four months, reported the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

This is an increase from the 553 bills, totalling HK$166,220, seized over the same period in 2023.

The publication reported that three cases of deception involving cryptocurrency transactions accounted for a big portion of counterfeits in 2024, with the police seizing 1,693 “training notes” and 347 low-quality fake notes.

“Training notes” are said to be used to train bank staff. However, they have no security features and are not genuine currency.

It added that three people were arrested in connection with these cases.

A total of 2,053 forged HK$1,000 notes have been seized so far in 2024.

Meanwhile, the number of fake HK$500 notes went up to 919 – more than four times the 177 seized in the first four months of 2023.

Other counterfeit notes included 404 HK$100 notes, five HK$50 notes, four HK$20 notes and 11 HK$10 notes.

“Most of the seized counterfeit Hong Kong banknotes are of low printing quality,” SCMP quoted a police spokesman as saying.

The police have urged the public to be on the lookout for fake notes and check for security features such as the dynamic shimmering pattern and windowed metallic thread used on genuine Hong Kong notes.

The city’s Monetary Authority states that when genuine bills are tilted, the ring in the dynamic shimmering pattern moves correspondingly. The large and small rings on the metallic thread do so as well.

Hong Kong’s currency is also printed with a strong embossed feel, as compared with fake notes which have smooth surfaces.

A police source told SCMP that the quality of fakes was so poor that people should be able to tell the difference simply by looking at or touching them.

Counterfeiters would usually target convenience stores and taxi drivers to slip the fakes into circulation, he added.

Another source said that the counterfeit situation was not that alarming, as the fakes were a very small percentage of the total volume of genuine notes in circulation.

Citing the Monetary Authority, the publication said there were HK$614 billion in notes and coins in circulation as at March.

The source believed the quantity of counterfeit notes would decrease as electronic payment methods become more popular, SCMP said.

The production, circulation or passing of counterfeit notes as genuine is punishable by up to 14 years in jail under Hong Kong law.

“On receiving a counterfeit banknote, you should immediately hand it over to the police or a bank and do not attempt to reuse it,” the police spokesman said.

SCMP reported that fraudsters have used training notes to swindle people in transactions related to cryptocurrency in recent years.

In a case in July 2023, scammers cheated a female accountant of HK$1 million in digital currency using fake notes at a fake cryptocurrency shop in Tsim Sha Tsui.

The woman had wanted to exchange her cryptocurrency for cash, and was served by a man who placed a stack of what appeared to be HK$1,000 notes on the counter.

Following instructions, the woman transferred her Tether digital currency worth HK$1 million to an e-wallet account.

Once the transfer was completed, the man said he needed to go to the toilet and asked her to wait outside the shop, leaving the stack of cash on the counter.

However, she realised it was a scam when the man did not return and became uncontactable. She subsequently made a police report.

SCMP said it had learnt that the stack of cash had only two real banknotes – at the top and the bottom – with the rest made up of training notes.

A similar case in May 2024 involved a 35-year-old man who was reportedly cheated of HK$1 million worth of Tether, also at a shop in Tsim Sha Tsui.