Funny money an age-old concern
Rash of counterfeit banknotes seized in Macau is the latest skirmish in perennial battle between crooks and governments
Public confidence in banknotes has been dented and a growing number of businesses are refusing to accept HK$1,000 bills after more than 100 bogus notes were seized in Macau in the past week.
So far, the counterfeiters have pulled the wool over the eyes of casinos and banks in the former Portuguese enclave, the biggest victims in the latest seizures.
The scale of the deception is likely to become more clear over the coming days as checks on banknotes are stepped up.
The last high-profile counterfeit scare in the city was in 2007, when more than half of HSBC's HK$1,000 banknotes issued in 2000 and 2002 were withdrawn from circulation after fakes were detected. The recall affected 11 million bills.
Counterfeiting is one of the oldest crimes around, at some times an offence punishable by death.
Even now, counterfeiting - no matter the scale -usually attracts harsh penalties as it poses a threat to a nation's economy.
In a high-profile case in 2007, two Hong Kong men and a mainland man were among a gang of six who went on trial in London for attempting to con the Bank of England out of £28 billion (then worth HK$443.34 billion), using "poor quality" counterfeit notes.