Criminals copy most security features on Indian banknote

Some of the counterfeit banknotes intercepted in India have had two-thirds of the security features copied, according to local news reports.

An article in India Today says that analysis of fake 2,000 rupee notes – thought to have been smuggled into India from Pakistan and seized in December and January – have revealed that 11 out of 17 security features have been copied by the counterfeiters.

India recently scrapped 500 and 1,000 rupee notes in a bid to eliminate corruption and counterfeit currency, introducing new 500 and 2,000 rupee notes with beefed up security features that are harder to copy.

According to the news report, counterfeit 2,000 rupee notes have been found with copies of the "geometric patterns and the colour scheme - both on the obverse and the reverse side including watermark – as well as the exclusive number pattern." It claims the notes have been forged in Pakistan and are smuggled into India via the border with Bangladesh.

The resulting notes are still of inferior quality but are harder to detect with the naked eye, according to experts.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has indicated that while counterfeits of the old 500 and 1,000 notes were visually similar to the genuine article, there had been no attempt to copy security features. The new revelations suggest the counterfeiter have stepped up their game.