BY MICHAEL BRESLIN
Businesses in Fermanagh have been warned to expect an even greater flow of counterfeit currency.
The 'dud' money is being passed through shops and banks by 'mobile criminals' who move from town to town on particular days of the week.
Enniskillen traders and staff attending a Business Watch awareness programme this week were told by a counterfeit currency expert employed by the Organised Crime Squad that, while special pens and ultra violet scanners were a deterrent, the most effective means of detection was their eyes.
Geoff Allen told his audience that, 12 years ago, the total amount of dud currency seized by police for the whole of Northern Ireland was £42,000 a year. Today, the figure is touching the £500,000 mark.
Mr Allen and a fellow expert came armed with examples of fake notes, representing some of the 51 legal bank notes currently in circulation here. To the untrained eye, they looked like the same thing, as did a bagful of dud one pound coins.
He remarked: "We have got quite a few counterfeit notes passed through Enniskillen this past while. It comes and goes. One week you get quite a few in Enniskillen and the next week they're being passed in Omagh by these groups who are part of organised crime who travel from town to town on particular days of the week.
"It is organised crime. There's the person who designs the currency, another who manufactures it and there's a distribution network. About 12 years ago, most of the counterfeit currency was imported into Northern Ireland from London and distributed. These were Bank of England notes.
"Today, I would say the greater majority of our counterfeit notes are being exported. For instance, this 50 euro note I have here was produced in Belfast and, within two months of the search of the premises, I had tracked this same note to 13 countries outside the UK."
Turning to the dud one pound coins, he suggested that, with 30 million legal coins in circulation, spotting a counterfeit presented a problem unless people were alert. But, as with the dud bank notes, there were ways and means of detection.
At the end of the day, the impact of counterfeit coinage was real: "We don't hear much about it on radio or television, but it is one which affects small businesses. It means you lose money and, if you pass it on, you're committing an offence."
He explained that modern equipment such as colour copiers meant that the counterfeiters could replicate local notes, and he said that amateurs had become proficient in the use of this sort of reproduction. Originally, the culprits were people involved in drugs, now paramilitary organisations were involved.
"But, alongside the advances of criminals, there have been advances in the security features of bank notes to try and counteract the illegal trend. We for our part collate information and we establish how the counterfeit is made, where the threat is coming from and we try to warn shopkeepers and banks of the potential threat."
As to what to look out for, Mr Allen said the trick was to look out for the water mark and the key security thread, and the same applied to euro notes.
"We get a lot of counterfeit currency in Enniskillen, euro 50 and euro 20 and Bank of England £20 notes. And, it's not the one person that is producing a particular note. One counterfeit expert will do four or five types of notes because, when we search their premises, we're finding off-cuts.
"The notes are of extremely good quality, and they have been passed in Northern Ireland. That means nobody checked them. The shopkeeper took the note and put it into the till without looking at it."
He said the counterfeit pen detector did not solve all the problems, nor did the ultra light scanner, nor was a bar code proof that a note is genuine.
"We had a lot of counterfeit notes with simulated bar codes on them. So, don't rely on detector pens or scanners. They are a great deterrent, no doubt about that and I would rather have them in my shop than not have them. Use your eyes and, if you see something you think is counterfeit, phone the Police and we will check the note."
As for the one pound dud coins, Mr Allen noted that this week's news reported there was a massive amount in circulation.
"We seized around about £28,000 worth last year. They're the same weight and the same size, and they're very good quality. They're a bit shiny, although the shine wears off after a few days. If you're offered, say, 47 one pound coins with a Welsh dragon on the reverse or 50 with the same coat of arms, then they're counterfeit."
Having sampled what to them felt like the genuine article between coins and notes, local traders and their staff were grateful they had illustrated guides to take with them, and they left with a reassuring word from the expert.
"We're constantly having meetings with the organised crime task force, the banks, cash in transit firms and the Post Office. We're constantly monitoring intelligence coming in as to who is making this stuff and passing it on. One business I know lost £170,000 by way of couterfeit currency in a month, but had they used some basic checks, they could have minimised that loss."
