Derbyshire Police have reported a high number of incidents of counterfeit £20 notes in circulation in the Long Eaton area.  You are advised to check the validity of £20s, £50s in particular, and to be mindful that there are occasionally counterfeit £10s and scottish notes sometimes in circulation.
 
Once notes are in circulation they travel, so please pass this information on.

Counterfeit currency tends to appear in spates.  More often than not, they tend to be of higher demonimations, such as £20 and £50 notes.  They might also be less commonly recognised notes such as Scottish bank notes.
 
Here is some useful information to help you and your staff to try and identify counterfeit currency.
 
If you do not have a counterfeit currency detector pen to hand, one of the easiest ways of testing notes is to rub the large purple £20 sign across a piece of white paper. If genuine, traces of purple ink will be left on the paper as on a genuine note the ink never fully dries.
 
The most common modus operandi appears to be the purchase of low cost items such as chocolate bars or cans of drink (50p - 60p), with higher value notes, ie £20.

PLEASE CHECK ALL NOTES WHEN CASH HANDLING, PARTICULARLY WHEN NOTES ARE BEING USED FOR LOW COST PURCHASES.

Hints & Tips when checking notes :

Genuine Bank of England notes contain easily identifiable security features which ordinary members of the public can distinguish by sight and touch:

• Clarity of printing: should be sharp and well defined.  There should be no blurred edges and clear colours front and back 
• Watermark should be clear and visible only when held up to the light and should be a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II 
• Silver thread strip runs through the note; it is not painted on the surface and should be visible as a continuous line when held up to the light and dashes when the note is placed flat 
• Paper, when in good condition, should feel crisp and slightly rough in heavy-printed letters. They should not be limp, waxy or shiny. 
• New series £20 hologram when change the angle the note is held at Britannia and symbol of £20 should appear alternatively 
• Serial Number: each banknote has an individual serial number which can appear horizontally and/or vertically.
• For businesses, counterfeit detection devices such as pens and UV lights are not a 100% reliable method of checking banknotes and should only be used in conjunction with a checks for factors such as watermarks and quality.  

This information has been taken from the NCIS (National Criminal Intellligence Service)

If counterfeit currency comes into your possession this must be reported to local police.  It is criminal offence for you to knowingly bank, tender or keep counterfeit currency.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE COUNTERFEIT CURRENCY PENS (£2) OR HAND HELD UV TORCHES (£5) THESE ARE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE LONG EATON CRIME PREVENTION PANEL.  TO ORDER THESE ITEMS PLEASE CONTACT PC MARK PHILLIPS VIA crn.police@btopenworld.com