Central Bank kicks as $2.6 million counterfeit banknotes sneak into transactions

Admin I Friday, July 26, 2024

 

BERLIN – More counterfeit banknotes were discovered in German payment transactions in the first half of the year than at any time in the last seven years, the German Bundesbank central bank said on Friday.

In the first six months of the year, authorities discovered 38,578 counterfeit banknotes with a face value of €2.4 million ($2.6 million).

That’s the highest half-year total since 2017, when authorities seized 39,685 counterfeit banknotes, and 29% more than in the second half of 2023.

Accounting for 37% of the counterfeit notes, counterfeit €50 bills were the most common type of note in circulation, ahead of counterfeit €20 bills (30%) and counterfeit €100 bills (15%).

Even counterfeit €10 bills were significantly more common than in the previous six months, but only accounted for 7% of the total number of banknotes.

The number of €200 and €500 counterfeits, on the other hand, fell significantly compared to the previous six months, according to Bundesbank board member Burkhard Balz.

Together, they now only account for about 10% of the counterfeits seized, he said.

“Overall, the volume of counterfeit money remains low,” Balz said. “In purely mathematical terms, there were nine counterfeit banknotes per 10,000 inhabitants.”