Fake $20’s in Halton

Halton police are asking people to pay close attention to their cash especially older paper bank notes. So far this year, they’ve seen an 18-percent increase in counterfeit bank notes, most of them are old twenties.

The Bank of Canada says it’s easy to spot a fake once you become familiar with the security features of a real bill. For instance, a real paper bill has raised ink on the words ‘Bank of Canada’, the shoulders of the portrait, and the large number. If you tilt the bill, you will see vibrant colours, and maple leaves along the holographic stripe. You’ll also be able to see a watermark and a vertical stripe along the right if you hold it up to the light.

Manuel Periera is with the Bank of Canada: “Counterfeits change so if you focus on the counterfeit bills, you’re not protecting yourself, they’re always going to change. What you need to do is use the constant, and the constant are bank notes. Security features on a bank note are very easy to use, very difficult to counterfeit, so it’s much easier to check a note by looking at its features than worrying about a counterfeit.”

The Bank of Canada is now phasing out the old paper notes with new polymer bank notes which it says will be harder to replicate.