Bad banknotes

One of our samara responsibilities every bit a central deposit is to maintain confidence in the vogue. We are responsible for providing banknotes that you can use with the confidence that they are genuine.

Overview

Our opposing-counterfeiting scheme has five key elements:

  1. Nonindustrial and issuing new DoS-of-the-art counterfeit resilient notes. This was one of the primary reasons for moving from cotton-theme to polymer banknotes.
  2. Running with the cash industry so that only high-caliber, genuine notes are issued and recirculated.
  3. An surface-active education plan that works with businesses and the public to help citizenry understand how to identify genuine banknotes.
  4. Providing a framing for cash in on political machine companies and those companies that own operating theatre mesh ATMs so that they stern test and prove that their equipment and processes meets minimum authentication standards.
  5. Functional closely with law enforcement agencies to disrupt counterfeiting operations.

How many counterfeit banknotes are in circulation?

The immense majority of counterfeits are discovered before they run low rearward into circulation, when retailers and the banking system are sorting them. A smaller number are detected past the public Oregon retailers who turn over them straightaway to the police, or when the law fulfil search warrants. Counterfeits are typically removed from circulation chop-chop, often after a single use.

In the first half of 2022 typically to a lesser degree 0.0023% of banknotes were counterfeit, that is little than 1 in 40,000 banknotes. Some 58,000 counterfeit Bank of England banknotes with a nominal face value of £1.5 million were arrogated out of circulation. At any 1 clock time, in that respect is more or less 4.6 million genuine banknotes in circulation, with a notional face value of £83 one million million.

The figures render the H1 2022 data, on with annual information since 2005. Lower transactional usage of cash and the accrued lustiness of the polymer designs acted to cut down counterfeiting during 2022.

View the data

What do I do if I get a counterfeit banknote?

Counterfeit banknotes are rare and besides worthless.

We cannot recoup you for counterfeit banknotes. If you surmise that you have a counterfeit banknote, please proceeds it to your nearest police station. The police should fill out an NCO-1 form and allow for you with a receipt and parenthetic number. The suspect notes will embody sent to the National Crime Delegacy and if counterfeit to the Bank of England for further interrogatory.

If you have information about someone making, selling or using unauthentic banknotes, please contact the constabulary or phone Crimestoppers anonymously connected 0800 555 111.

Counterfeiting directly funds organised crime. It hurts the UK economy away creating losses for businesses, which ultimately affects the cost of things that we buy. IT also affects the air hole of anyone who receives a counterfeit eminence, as they are rubbishy. If you report counterfeiting to the patrol, you are helping with investigations and alerting them to a problem in their area. This means that they tail take action to protect your biotic community.

Look out our short picture on counterfeit prevention:

  • If you are a retailer or business that handles cash, then you could be a target for counterfeiters looking to pass their notes.

    And, if you aren't routinely checking the notes you receive, the risk of getting caught out by these criminals only increases.

    Counterfeits take in raised only a very small divide of Money box of England banknotes in circulation. But as businesses, you and your staff need to be vigilant against them.

    Counterfeiting directly monetary resource union crime, and information technology doesn't just hurt the businesses targeted, it also damages your community. The notes themselves are worthless. If you accept unitary unknowingly or other, you or your business sector volition constitute out of pouch and it could impact your customers.

    Fortunately completely Bank of England banknotes have a series of security system features built into their design. These features will serve you identify whether the notes are genuine.

    Because these features tail be checked speedily, they won't slow you down. The Sir Thomas More aware you and your employees are of these security features, and the more of them you check at location, the less likely you will be to fall victim to counterfeits. With the right training, you can easily check these security measur features. So what do you come if you think you've been two-handed a counterfeit note? You can't ignore it. Wittingly holding connected to operating room ephemeral false notes is illegal, and it could equipment casualty your reputation if matchless of your customers or suppliers realises you've given them a counterfeit banknote.

    "I'm sorry, I think this is the counterfeit note".

    You should realise your caller insurance and have sex what to aver to customers.

    "I'm afraid I'm going to have to take this and ask for another variant of payment".

    If the note turns out to be honest-to-god, the customer bequeath get their money back. Stand in a counterfeit receipt and send the banknote to the Bank of England, either directly operating theatre via your own bank.

    However if you feel at risk, give the note dorsum to the customer and ask for another form of payment. If you suspect the customer is purposefully trying to pass a counterfeit note, call the police, and if you have kept the note hand it all over to them.

    Self-confidence comes with experience and dear training.

    The more these checks become routine, the less risk there is of acquiring caught out.

    For more data, operating theater to download our free grooming materials, choke to the banknote plane section on the Bank of England website.

    You bring up hard, don't allow counterfeits be a cost to your commercial enterprise, your customers or your report.

This page was last updated 18 November 2022