E-mail warning of fake UAE banknotes a hoax

Dubai: An e-mail message warning recipients about the alleged circulation of fake Dh100 bills in the UAE is most likely a prank, a police forensic expert said.

According to Aqil Al Najjir, Head of the Questioned Documents Section at Dubai Police, they did not receive any report about counterfeit Dh100 notes.

"For some time we did not receive any cases of forged UAE notes. We had cases of forged notes a long time ago but it didn't re-emerge. Only very few cases, with the most recent being of a Dh500 but it's definitely not a phenomenon," he told Gulf News.

Al Najjar said they cannot examine the picture attached to the e-mail message as experts must see the actual note.

"Most probably the e-mail is a prank, but I can't entirely confirm this unless I closely examine the questioned note," he said.

"[But] judging from my decades of experience in this field, I have never seen a forged copy that does not have the serial numbers printed." he said.

Based on the picture, the alleged counterfeit note had no Arabic serial numbers which are usually printed horizontally on the side of the bill.

"The forged bill is almost always the exact copy of the real note. It's the security features that are questioned in the fake note," Al Najjar said.

When asked whether they inform the Central Bank in case fake notes are found, Al Najjar said: "We don't inform anyone; we just examine it and write a report about it."

A source at the UAE Central Bank also said they did not receive any complaints about forged banknotes. The source also agreed with the police that experts must closely examine the note to determine whether it's fake or not.