A spate of poor-quality fake banknotes has pushed the number of counterfeit cash found in the city in the first nine months of this year well above last year's total, police said.
Police yesterday arrested a taxi driver and his girlfriend and seized 113 fake HK$100 and HK$50 notes with a face value of HK$5,900.
They were among 2,983 fake banknotes in different denominations confiscated up to Wednesday, compared to 1,892 last year and 1,717 in 2009. The haul included 1,370 fake HK$100 notes, up from 500 last year.
All the 1,370 counterfeit HK$100 banknotes were made using inkjet printers and could be easily identified as fake by the public, police said.
Despite the increase in counterfeit cash, Chief Inspector Yu Hoi-kwan of the commercial crime bureau said the seizures in recent years remained low, compared to the peak of 16,953 fake banknotes in 2000.
The night-shift driver and his girlfriend were arrested after three passengers - two men and a woman - complained early this month about receiving fake HK$50 notes as part of their change.
All had received the notes after taking a taxi at night on Hong Kong Island.