Federal police are investigating a disturbing new trend that has emerged with criminals advertising counterfeit cash on social media.
In one post, $20,000 in “premium” fake notes are being exchanged for $1000 of real money.
The sellers claim the fake money can be passed off at supermarkets, petrol stations, pubs and on Facebook marketplace.
The business model is believed to be preying on desperate Australians.
“I’s easy to mock these people but it’s important to understand the underlying problem,” Cultural Cyber Security executive director Brian Hay told 9News.
“We’re going through tough times and what we do know when we’re going through tough times is that financial crime, identity crime and cyber crime increases.”
But there is a very high risk of getting caught.
“Australian bank notes are very hard to counterfeit so if you have counterfeit cash it will be very obvious to those you’re handing it over to and you’re at high risk of being caught,” Finder head of consumer research Graham Cooke said.
The Australian Federal Police told 9News it was seeing a significant rise in counterfeit currency being offered for sale via social media but most of the time the fake money didn’t really exist.
The Reserve Bank of Australia said you could spot the difference by checking for security holograms, the details in the small text and the plastic texture with a window, which is hard to replicate.
“If any of those things are ringing alarm bells you can take it into your local bank and you can hand it over to them with an amnesty and not get caught using a counterfeit note,” Cooke said.
Anyone caught buying or selling fake cash can face up to 12 years behind bars.
