Farayand Virtual World

* Fake notes most likely to be exchanged in busy areas

Counterfeit money is most likely to be handed out in crowded and dimly-lit spaces rather than in well-kept stores, said a senior police official.
Experts say forged notes are easy to spot and are not likely to last long in the marketplace before being identified as fake.

Aqil A. Al Najjar, head of the Questioned Documents Section of Dubai Police, told Gulf News that in the past six months 119 cases of counterfeit notes had been reported to them.

"People should be careful while receiving and dealing with money. I urge anyone who comes across counterfeit money to report it to the police immediately.

"Counterfeiters are less likely to go to respected shops because they might be using detection equipment, unlike small and crowded shops and shopping areas," Al Najjar said.

He said that counterfeiting had become easier in recent years thanks to new technology such as scanners and colour printers.

Gulf News was recently contacted by a member of the public in Dubai who received a counterfeit 50 dirham note.

When interviewed by Gulf News , Al Najjar had with him a fake 50 dirham note with the same serial number as the reader's note, suggesting they were forged by the same person.

Fahad Al Hosani, Assistant Executive Director at the Central Bank of the UAE, said that the big difference between genuine notes and fake notes was the paper used to make them.

"Fake notes of any currency can be made, but the quality is not that good as it is made from commercial paper, while most currencies are made from silk-based paper," he said.

Al Hosani added that genuine UAE notes, especially the high-denomination ones, had many security features that enabled people to identify fakes.

(Source:www.Gulf News.com)