Manila: The Philippine central bank has warned Filipinos against accepting a fictitious bank note making rounds on the internet lately.
In an advisory published on Friday, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) cautioned against the fictitious P10,000 bank note after photos of the purpoted paper currency were widely shared on platforms such as Facebook.
A total of P10,000 in legal bank notes equates to Dh689 at current exchange rates.
“The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas advises the public that the New Generation Currency (NGC) Banknote Series currently in circulation is comprised of six denominations only, as follows: 1,000-, 500-, 200-, 100-, 50- and 20-piso banknotes. The BSP has not produced and has not issued a 10,000 piso NGC banknote,” the BSP said.
The BSP warned people against being duped into accepting P10,000 on the assumption that it was legal tender.
Likewise it also cautioned against possession of the fake P10,000 bank notes.
“The forgery of Philippine banknotes as well as the use or possession of forged banknotes are punishable under the law,” it warned.
The BSP called for cooperation from the public in preserving the integrity of Philippine currency through sharing of verified information.
Forgery used to be common in the Philippines during earlier times, when there were little means to determine if a paper currency was fake or not. However, with bank note detectors getting less expensive and easy to access, it is almost inexcusable to be duped.
The Philippine currency, which is printed on security paper, also has unique features that make forgery difficult.
