Public warned anew vs fake money bills

By Jennifer P. Rendon

The Police Regional Office (PRO)-6 again warned the public to be sharp-eyed against counterfeit money bills.

Brigadier General Sidney Villaflor, Western Visayas police chief, said that the public should stay vigilant by double-checking the bills they receive.

“If in doubt, try to refuse or to have it replaced,” he said.

The region’s top cop also urged the public to report to the police the presence of fake bills to protect them from the said scheme.

The warning came on the heels of the arrest of a 53-year-old man from Molo, Iloilo City who paid fake bills for his purchase.

Captain Francis Donne Lomahan, Miag-ao police chief, did not name the suspect so as not to jeopardize ongoing follow-up operations.

The suspect allegedly bought fish worth P300 from two vendors.

In both cases, he paid using P1,000 bills.

The first vendor already gave the P700 change when he suspected that the money could be fake.

He immediately ran after the suspect.

After verification that the two bills were counterfeit, they placed the buyer under citizen’s arrest.

Lomahan said the group of vendors turned over the suspect to the police.

He yielded six more P1,000 and a P500 fake bill.

Lomahon said the suspect could be part of a group engaged in the proliferation of fake bills.

Last Monday, a vegetable vendor in La Paz Public Market in Iloilo City claimed to have also received a fake P500 bill from an unknown customer.

The lady buyer allegedly bought P120 worth of cauliflower.

The victim claimed she discovered that she was paid with fake money after buying medicines at a pharmacy.

The victim no longer reported the incident to police authorities.

Another vendor in Baldoza flea market in La Paz also claimed to have been paid with a fake P1,000 bill last month.

In late 2022, there were also reports of fake bills that were paid to vendors at the Oton public market.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said consumers can detect fake bills using the “Feel-Look-Tilt” method:

“FEEL” the texture of the banknotes and check if the banknotes have:

1. Rough Security Paper
2. Embossed Print
3. Raised Tactile Marks (for Enhanced New Generation Currency or eNGC banknotes)

“LOOK” for the following security features when inspecting your banknotes:

1. Watermark or shadow image of the portrait
2. Security fibers
3. Security thread
4. Asymmetric serial number
5. See-through mark

“TILT” the banknote side-to-side to check for the following security features:

1. Windowed security thread
2. Concealed numerical value
3. Optically variable ink (for 1000-Piso NGC banknotes, and for 1000- and 500-Piso eNGC banknotes)
4. Optically variable device patch (for 1000- and 500-Piso NGC banknotes, and 1000-Piso eNGC banknotes)
5. Enhanced value panel (for 1000- and 500-Piso eNGC banknotes)