Business owners urged to be vigilant following an increase in the use of counterfeit £20 notes

Business owners urged to be vigilant following an increase in the use of counterfeit £20 notes

We're asking businesses in the North Cotswolds to be vigilant following an increase in the area of people trying to pay for items with counterfeit £20 notes.

There have now been a couple of occasions where small groups of men have gone into shops and purchased items, or tried to purchase items, with fake cash.

Enquiries are ongoing to identify those involved, however we wanted to warn businesses that this has happened and to be vigilant when taking cash payments.

The notes have been new style ones which picture King Charles.

Anyone with information or who believes they have been given counterfeit notes can report this by completing the following online form: https://www.gloucestershire.police.uk/tua/tell-us-about/soh/seen-or-heard/

Advice on how to check if banknotes are genuine or counterfeit can be found here: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/counterfeit-banknotes/how-to-check-your-banknotes

What to do if you receive counterfeit currency - Action Fraud advice:

If the notes have been passed and the suspect is not present, this should be reported via 101, by attending your local police station or online depending on the force area.

If the suspect is present at the location or still nearby, consideration should be given to contacting the police on 999.

Counterfeit notes should be retained and provided to the police as evidence, ideally inside a plastic wallet or paper envelope to preserve potential fingerprints.

If there is CCTV footage of the suspect available, this should be downloaded and provided to the police together with the counterfeit notes or coins.

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