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With Christmas and the 2010 elections approaching, authorities are again warning the public to be vigilant of the spread of fake money bills.
Central Visayas police gave the warning yesterday after they received reports of the spread of counterfeit P500 and P1,000 bills in the region.
Fake money usually circulates during Christmas season and the runup to an election, said Senior Insp. Nixon Lauyan of the Regional Intelligence Division.
The counterfeit bills usually came from other provinces, said Senior Supt. Louie Oppus, Region 7's police chief of the Operation and Plans Division.
He encouraged consumers to learn how to detect fake bills.
An advisory was issued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in 2006 on how the public can recognize genuine bank notes and spot fakes.
Genuine money bills are a bit rough in texture while counterfeit bills are very smooth.
Genuine bills also have embossed watermarks, window security threads and colors that shift from green to magenta when exposed to light.
