The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued an alert about fake Rs 500 currency notes that are circulating in the market. As per the reports, the security circular regarding the counterfeit was shared by the key financial institutions and regulatory bodies like DRI, FIU, CBI, NIA, SEBI, etc and warned people that the fake currency is of high quality and looks similar to the original. The quality of print, paper and colour looks genuine, and it is difficult to distinguish real and fake, as per a News18 report.
How to Identify Fake Rs 500 Note?
The counterfeit currency notes have a striking similarity to real Rs 500 notes, with only a minor but significant spelling error differentiating them from real notes. The spelling mistake in the central bank name in the fake notes was detected. The error is found in the phrase “RESERVE BANK OF INDIA" where the letter “E" in “RESERVE" has been mistakenly replaced with the letter “A", as per News18.
A senior government official, quoting the letter, said that this minor mistake may go unnoticed if not looked at closely and calmly. Banks and other financial institutions have been alerted regarding this, and there is an indication that a large number of these counterfeit notes may have already entered the market.
The images of these counterfeit notes have also been given to financial institutions to help them identify them. Authorities are urging citizens and institutions to be vigilant and report any suspicious currency. As per the senior investigation officer, it is difficult and next to impossible to know how many fake notes are in circulation in the market.
The only data available from the government is through different sources, which also include counterfeit notes submitted to the bank by the public, but the number of counterfeit notes is much higher than those figures. A senior official quoted by News18 in its report said that there might be a direct relation between terror financing and counterfeit notes.