Fake $50 & $100 Notes Are Now in Public; SPF Advises People to Check Serial Numbers

Do you know that you can’t paste images of banknotes into Photoshop?

If you hand itchy and tried to open it (or merely paste it) in Photoshop, you’ll see this:

Why, you ask.

Because it’s illegal, duh.

But that didn’t stop three men in Singapore, aged between 25 and 29, to do that between 25 May 2019 to 4 June 2019, which leads to this article.

The three men have been arrested and charged, but their sins have affected some of us.

Police Alerts Public of Counterfeit S$50 and S$100 notes

Today (11 June 2019), the police advise the public that fake $50 or $100 notes are being circulated in public, no thanks to those three jokers.

According to the men in blue, these notes have been used in convenience stores, restaurants and retail outlets.

The police said, “These counterfeit notes, which are believed to be photocopied reproductions, lack security features such as (a) watermark (an image that can be seen when held up to the light) and security thread (thread that is interwoven in the paper running vertically down) found on genuine notes.”

One way to check is to look closer at the kinegram, or octagonal reflective foil.

They added, “For instance, the image on the kinegram of a genuine note should shift when the note is tilted but the simulated kinegram on the counterfeit note does not have this characteristic. The surface of the counterfeit note also lacks the embossed feel present on genuine notes.”

Still confused and worried that the last $50 you have in your wallet to last you through the week is fake?

No worries; you can simply check the serial number.

The fake $100 note has the serial number 3AX412083.

The fake $50 notes have these serial numbers:

• 0FF875629
• 3DL273922
• 4DZ985604
• 5HS436415
• 5LV797440
• 5LP297324
• 5CK878136
• 5JH230011

If you’re in possession of the notes, you should make a police report immediately because anyone convicted of using counterfeit currency may be fined and jailed for up to 20 years, while those convicted of possessing such notes may be given a jail term of up to 15 years.

And if you’d like to know more about the Singapore dollars, you can check out a video we’ve done on this topic: