Frankfurt, July 23, (dpa/GNA) – The coronavirus restrictions in trade and the hospitality industry have further depressed the counterfeit money figures in Europe in the first half of 2021.
Both in Germany and in Europe, the number of seized counterfeit banknotes decreased, the German central bank, the Bundesbank, announced in Frankfurt on Friday. The amount of losses was also smaller.
According to the report, the police, retailers and banks withdrew 21,356 counterfeit euro banknotes from circulation in Germany in the first six months of the current year. That was 13 per cent less than in the second half of 2020, when it was 24,633.
The damage shrank by 16 per cent from a good 1.2 million euros (1.41 million dollars) at the time to just over 1 million euros.
Across Europe, the euro central banks registered a total of 167,000 counterfeit euro banknotes with a total value of 8 million euros in the first half of 2021. This continued the downward trend observed since the second half of 2019.
In the first half of 2020, there were 240,000 counterfeit notes, according to the European Central Bank (ECB), and then 220,000 in the second half of 2020.
The damage caused by counterfeit money for the whole of Europe added up to 21.5 million euros in 2020.
“The counterfeit money figures have decreased significantly,” Bundesbank Executive Board member Johannes Beermann summed up. “The reason for this was the coronavirus restrictions.
Consumption options were severely restricted, especially in areas where cash plays a significant role.”
With new security features, the monetary guardians have made the European common currency more counterfeit-proof in recent years.
For some time now, criminals have increasingly relied on counterfeit banknotes, which are offered on the internet under the terms “movie money” or “prop copy” as play money or film props.
These drove up the number of counterfeits, especially of the 10-euro note and the 20-euro note.
With a share of around 41 per cent of the total number of counterfeits in Germany, the 20-euro note overtook the 50-euro note in the first half of 2021.
GNA