29/01/2026
💰 💸 Yesterday PCSO Rawson attended local businesses in Eckington to make them aware of recent reports regarding counterfeit money potentially in circulation in the local area.
We’re asking businesses and private sellers to be vigilant to counterfeit money as we’ve seen a number of reports across the county in recent weeks.
In some cases, businesses were targeted, but we have also seen reports from private sellers who have arranged to sell items via social media or a selling website.
PC Louise Rodger from our Fraud Unit said: “We would always encourage businesses and sellers to take a moment to check that they’re happy with the look and feel of the cash they’re accepting.
“The Bank of England has a number of guides and schemes on their website to train you and your staff. Getting briefed on checking cash now could save you time, money and stress in the long run.”
Checking notes
Always do a visual inspection of the cash, the Bank of England has guides on their website to help you: How to check your banknotes | Bank of England.
Look for the hologram image change – tilt the note from side to side and the words should change from ‘five’, ‘ten’, ‘twenty’ or ‘fifty’ to ‘pounds’ and back on the bottom of the note.
For £50 notes, within the two gold foil squares on the front the image changes between a ‘50’ and a ‘£’ when tilted.
The metallic image over the see through window should be a different colour depending on the value of the note, and silver on the back of all notes.
You should be able to feel the raised print on the front of the polymer notes, for example on the words ‘Bank of England’ and around the number ‘5’.
Check the print quality – the printed lines should be sharp, clear and free from smudges or blurred edges. Under a magnifying glass, you will see the value of the note written in small letters and numbers.
Under a good quality ultra-violet light, the value of the note as a number should appear in bright red and green on the front of the note.
You might be able to feel a difference in the notes too, on £10, £20 and £50 notes, the value can be identified by clusters of dots in the top left corner.
The £10 has two, £20 has three and £50 has four clusters of dots. The £5 note does not have this, to help blind and partially sighted people to identify it.
Someone may act suspiciously when attempting to pay with fake bank notes, they might want to pay large amounts with small notes, be nervous and try to rush the payment.
Advice for taking payments with selling sites and social media sales
Use a trusted payment platform such as PayPal, Stripe or Square. These can offer fraud protection and chargeback handling. Always check that the balance is in your account via a trusted link or app – don’t trust a weblink or screenshot from the buyer.
Use the integrated payment platform within websites such as eBay, Amazon or Etsy.
If accepting payment via bank transfer, always confirm that the payment is in your account, via your own trusted app or link, before shipping or handing over goods.
