Counterfeit £20 Notes Flooding UK - Summer of Discontent Continues

It seems that the United Kingdom is gripped in a Summer of crime this year – 2008. With blistering sunny days we have seen a rise in house burglaries from opportunistic thieves as house owners head out to enjoy the warm weather and leave doors and windows open. Add this to the spate of siphoning of petrol from cars and outside heating oil tanks crimes due to the rising cost of fuel and we can see a worrying trend beginning to appear. Now, this summertime we are on the lookout again as the country it appears has been flooded with counterfeit £20 notes as if our countries economy wasn't in enough trouble.

Warnings have been issued about the use of forged £20 banknotes across the country in the last few weeks now reaching epidemic proportions. Police officers have become aware of counterfeit £20 notes circulating in shops and other outlets across the UK and are advising retailers to compare any suspect notes with one that is known to be genuine, as there is always something that the counterfeiters cannot reproduce properly - usually the watermark or on poor quality paper.

The quality of the paper used in genuine notes is specially manufactured and almost impossible to get hold of by counterfeiters. Two things can help prevent you being caught out by a forged note; the first is a specially made counterfeit Detection Pen which reacts to normal paper but not to genuine currency paper. The other is a UV Lamp (either Hand-held UV Lamps which are battery operated or Mains operated units available) which will illuminate the ultraviolet marking within a genuine note.

Counterfeit Detection Pens are cheap to buy and have the advantage of being very easy to use in a busy environment, simply mark each note with a quick stroke of the pen and if the mark left is clear or feint then the note is probably okay but if it leaves a dark or black mark, the note must be treated as suspect.

UV Lamps work differently, by placing a note beneath the UV Light, it will illuminate the ultraviolet marking hidden within a genuine note but can only be seen under the black light. There is also a mains operated UV Lamp available which will not only give a brighter UV light but also contains a built in white light so that you can also check the watermarks (which are almost impossible for the forger to copy). Most forgeries are based on the £20 note, this is because a £50 note attracts attention of the shopkeeper whereas a £20 note is so common these days that they barely have a second glance at them.

Often counterfeit notes will be handed over among genuine ones, so shopkeepers are advised to check all money thoroughly but particularly £20 notes - and shoppers and shopkeepers should be aware that if they receive a counterfeit note, the bank will not compensate them.

Crime Prevention Products stock counterfeit detection pens and various home and personal security products including personal alarms.