Be Wary Of Fake Rebased K100 Notes

Dear Editor,

THE warning by the Bank of Zambia (BoZ) that people should be wary of fake KR100 notes that are already in circulation is timely and should be taken seriously by all concerned citizens.

The Central Bank, through its Public Relations Unit announced in Lusaka yesterday that counterfeit notes, notably in the KR100 denominations bearing identical serial numbers have been discovered in circulation.

The bank said the fake KR100 notes that have been exposed bear identical serial numbers FB/126537055, FB/126537056 and FB/126537075.

In view of this, the bank has further advised members of the public to also be on guard for any other counterfeit notes which may appear in other denominations.

According to the bank, while the counterfeit notes repeatedly bear the serial numbers in question, no two genuine bank notes will bear the same serial number.

In other words, every genuine banknote has a unique serial number.

The bank also advised people, especially those transacting in high value banknotes, to be vigilant besides checking for notable security features.

With this information in mind, we feel it would be imprudent for people, especially those doing business not to ignore the warning by BoZ.

The warning by BoZ could not have come at a better time than now.

It is unfortunate that just when people are beginning to get used to transacting in the new rebased Kwacha notes, some devious people have decided to take advantage of the situation, to print and circulate counterfeit notes.

Though, it’s not clear how long the fake notes have been in circulation, it is gratifying that the plot to cheat unsuspecting people of their hard-earned cash has promptly been uncovered.

This is why we commend the Bank of Zambia for exposing the fake notes as quickly as possible before the notes are circulated in alarming proportions.

Producing and circulating counterfeit notes is a serious crime and we can only hope security wings will quickly get to the bottom of this and trace crooks behind the fake notes.

The police should trace the origins and ensure that those involved are visited by the long arm of the law.

This will serve as a warning to would be offenders so that Zambia can be what it has always been, a haven of peace.

In fact, the damage and complications that fake currency causes in the economy are well known and cannot be underestimated.

We therefore urge the police and other security wings to work flat out to ensure the source of the fake notes is established and the culprits are swiftly brought to book.

Zambian

Posted by Editor on March 29, 2013. Filed under LATEST NEWS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry