BSP warns public anew against fake PH bills

MANILA, Philippines – With more money circulating this holiday season, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) warned the public anew to be more vigilant against fake peso bills.

In an advisory issued December 22, the BSP cited its earlier warning against the unlawful practice of extracting the Windowed Security Thread (WST) from genuine banknotes. WST consists of a thin ribbon that is threaded through the note’s paper. Counterfeiters then paste the extracted, genuine WST on the counterfeit P500 and P1,000 bills.

But in recent months, the BSP observed that in order to camouflage or to cover the missing WST on genuine P100 banknotes, counterfeiters use a pen with semi-gloss ink or cover the area where the WST was removed with commercially available glossy/metallic paper.

“In view of this, the public is advised to be extra vigilant to this new trick/modus operandi of counterfeiters,” BSP said.

Genuine banknotes with WST willfully removed will no longer have any value, while banknotes devoid of WST but subsequently simulated or pasted with genuine WST is considered counterfeit.

Real from fake

The BSP has repeatedly advised the public to check banknotes carefully. Among the security features of the genuine New Generation Currency (NGC) bills are:

• They are rough and coarse in texture.
• They do not glow under ultraviolet light but feels substantial and solid to touch.
• The watermark figure or the silhouette of the portrait on the face of the note is solid, distinct, well-defined.
• The security colored fibers are red and blue visible fibers embedded and scattered at random on both surfaces of the bill.
• Embedded metallic threads are implanted vertically off center of the banknotes and appear as a broken line for P5, P10 and P20 denominations and a continuous line for P50, P100, P200, P500, and P1,000 bills.
• The prints like Republika ng Pilipinas (Republic of the Philippines), amount in words, and numerical figures at the lower right hand of the banknotes and signatures are clearly printed and readable.
• Serial numbers are composed of one or two prefix letters and 6 to 7 digits that are also clearly printed, and uniform in size and thickness on the banknotes.
• A shiny, 10-millimeter gold-colored stripe, with the numerical value printed in series is placed vertically across the portrait and appears on the new version of the P100, P200, P500 and P1,000 banknotes.

In case the public get hold of fake banknotes, they are advised to surrender them to the Currency Issue and Integrity Office through the Cash Department, BSP, Security Plant Complex, East Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City or to the nearest BSP regional office or branch.

Changes

The BSP also said earlier this week that businesses should continue accepting old banknotes until the end of 2015. (READ: BSP: ‘Old’ PH peso bills valid until Dec 31)

But the central bank clarified the New Denomination Series (NDS) banknotes could still be exchanged in banks and BSP offices until December 2016 before being demonetized in January 2017. (READ: Exchange ‘old’ bills until December 2016 – BSP)

Demonetization for Philippine coins is still being finalized by BSP, which launched on December 21 the limited edition General Miguel Malvar P10-coin. (READ: BSP issues limited edition P10-Miguel Malvar coin)

But BSP had already started consultations with stakeholders on the proposed new generation coins that would feature the electromagnetic signature (EMS) to guard against tampering and counterfeiting activities. (READ: Proposed PH coins to be more counterfeit-resistant – BSP)

The central bank also announced in October this year that by January 2016, the P100 banknotes will come in a different color to easily distinguish it from the similarly colored P1,000 banknotes. (READ: BSP to change P100 bill color in 2016)

The new P100 bill would have a different shade of blue, in response to complaints saying that it is difficult to differentiate the P100 and P1,000 banknotes. Both bills, which are part of the NGC banknotes released in 2010, look similar in terms of color. (READ: Confused over P100 and P1,000 bills?) – Rappler.com

P500 and P1,000 bills images from Wikimedia