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The National Crime Agency is warning local retailers and the public about a batch of counterfeit Bank of Ireland £50 notes that are being passed by Irish men in Hampshire.
The counterfeit notes are of an old design, do not feature a hologram and are green in colour.
In view of this police are advising that people should only accept the new style (purple) £50 as shown below:
Contact the police
If anyone passes or attempts to pass you the old style green £50 note, this should be declined and consideration given to contacting the police.
All genuine sterling (£) notes feature a watermark and the name of the bank in raised print and each note has an individual serial number.
Bank of Ireland £50 note – current series (pictured)
This current notes is purple unlike the earlier BOI £50s which were green.
Security features to check:
- Watermark – Head of Medusa (this can be seen when the note is held up to the light)
- Hologram – this changes between BOI Log (‘chevrons’) and denomination-50
- Security thread a series of dashes which become a solid line. (This can be seen when the note is held up to the light)
- Raised print – name of Bank
Find out more
Information about the security features in Bank of Ireland notes can be found on this Website.
If you have information about people making or using counterfeit bank notes, please contact your local police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Description of men
This advice follows the Hampshire Constabulary warning about two men with strong Irish accents who entered stores in Kings Worthy and Alresford on Wednesday 17 January and bought low value goods with £50 notes.
These display the serial number A383952.
The men are described as follows:
Suspect 1
- Shaved head
- Nicely shaped beard
- Wearing all black clothing, hoodie underneath his jacket and Nike trainers with white soles
- Shorter than Suspect 2
Suspect 2
- Number 4 grade hair style
- Untidy beard
- Wearing grey jogging bottoms, Nike trainers with white soles, black jacket with black hoodie underneath and another layer of clothing (grey)
Image: louisephotography under CC BY 2.0
