Hong Kong police and monetary authority issue warning against counterfeit HK$1,000 banknote

Some restaurants and retailers in the city are refusing to accept Bank of China HK$1,000 notes of the 2003 series, after police announced on Tuesday the discovery of a new variation of counterfeit notes modelled on it.

The Commercial Crime Bureau on Monday seized five pieces of these counterfeit notes from two local banks. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority described the fake notes as bearing a fair resemblance to genuine ones and has asked banks to speed up the process of withdrawing the 2003 series of HK$1,000 notes from circulation. Over the public holidays many banks have stopped accepting deposits of these notes into their cash deposit machines.

“The HKMA attaches great importance to this issue and is working closely with both the note-issuing banks and the police,” the authority said in a statement.

“We have required all banks in Hong Kong with cash-handling business to provide their staff with appropriate information and training according to the features of the counterfeit note as indicated by the police, so that they can accurately and quickly identify this new counterfeit note.”

The authority has asked banks to examine the machines to ensure they can effectively detect counterfeit notes. Customers who want to deposit these banknotes are asked to do so at counter services at branches in person.

Police appeals to the public that they should immediately hand it any suspected counterfeit banknotes to police or banks upon receipt and should not try to reuse them. Members of the public may dial the police hotline at 2860 5012 for enquiries relating to fake banknotes.