Fake £20 notes in Aviemore - warning
Aviemore & Spey Valley Community Issues Forum have alerted the strath to the arrival in the strath of some fake £20 notes in the area.
Richard Graham posted: "I've just been down to bank to do a change order and was shown this in banking, a Bank of England Forged £20.
"They said they have had a few in the last week.
"The left hand note is suspect. The colours are dimmer, the monument in the transparent panel is Orange and not Gold reflective.
"Biggest give away is the use of a sticker over the silver crown in top left of note – it can easily be peeled away from note. It's not a part of the note itself."
He warned: "Just to make you all aware. Somebody is about either knowingly or unknowingly using them for their hols."
The Bank of England has published a guide to check whether notes are genuine or fake.
There are different checks depending on the different notes. This is what you need to know for £20 polymer notes:
Hologram
The word changes between ‘Twenty’ and ‘Pounds’ when the note is tilted on a real £20 note.
See-through windows
The foil on the metallic image over the main window is gold and blue on the front of the note and silver on the back on a real note.
A second, smaller window in the bottom corner of the note should also be visible.
The Queen’s portrait in the see-through window
A portrait of the Queen should be printed on the window with ‘£20 Bank of England’ printed twice around the edge.
Raised print and dots
New £20 notes are printed on polymer, which is a thin and flexible plastic material, but in the corner, there is a cluster of raised dots for blind and partially sighted people to identify the value of the note.
On the front of the note, you can feel raised print saying "Bank of England'.
Silver foil patch
On a genuine £20 note, above the main see-through window on the front of the note, there is a silver foil patch containing a 3D image of the coronation crown.
Purple foil patch
A second foil patch can also help you verify a £20 bank note.
It is a round, purple foil patch that contains the letter ‘T’.
This is located on the back of the note, directly behind the silver crown on the front of the note.
Print quality
Printed lines and colours on a genuine note are sharp, clear and free from smudges or blurred edges.If you use a magnifying glass, you will see the value of the note written in small letters and numbers below the Queen’s portrait.
Ultraviolet number
Under a good-quality ultraviolet light, the number ‘20’ appears in bright red and green on the front of the note, against a duller background.
What should you do if you have been given a fake note?
Take any fake notes to the nearest police station, and give as much detail as you can so the police can fill out an NCO-1 form.
Fake notes cannot be reimbursed. Any suspected notes will be sent to the National Crime Agency and, if they're fake, on to the Bank of England.
