Fake money not fake news

GEORGE NEWS - Shortly before the Christmas holidays the George Herald fell victim to counterfeit money.

During the second last week of December, R400 worth of fake money found its way via distribution channels into the newspaper's offices in York Street.

A local shop unknowingly used a counterfeit R200 note to pay for their batch of newspapers and two counterfeit R100 notes were used to pay for advertisements at the York Street offices that day.

According to Group Editors' human resource advisor, Mielies Steyn, incidents like this happen on average about three times a year.

The bank then simply cancels the counterfeit notes and the company loses the income.

"We are constantly trying to make distribution personnel aware of counterfeit money and teaching them how to recognise it, but sometimes it still slips in due to the quality of the counterfeit notes," he said.

They only realised the notes were fake when they were told by the bank official when making a deposit.

A definite colour difference distinguishes the counterfeit R200 at the bottom from the original one. Nelson Mandela's face also does not look the same. And in this case the magnetic strip on the fake note looks dull compared to the 'shiny' magnetic strip on the original note.

According to the South African Reserve Bank, you can spot counterfeit money by looking out for the following:

A watermark formed within the paper - When held up to the light, the image is visible and will not produce on colour copiers;
A security thread running through the banknote paper - A special thread is woven into the paper. On the front it appears as a silvery stripe. When held up to direct light, it appears as a continuous line on which the letters "SARB" can be seen.
High quality paper - Members of the public report that they recognise a banknote as a counterfeit by the texture of the paper.
Print quality - The fineness of the print quality on a genuine banknote is difficult for current scanning equipment to resolve properly. Intaglio printing, where thick ink lends a raised surface to the print surface, is difficult to reproduce cheaply.
The latest design features and technologies are constantly monitored and applied where applicable.
Hold your banknote up to direct light and you will see its safety features.