Three held with fake banknotes

KUALA LUMPUR: The arrest of three men with dud banknotes on Saturday has raised questions if fake RM50 and RM100 produced with sophisticated equipment are blending in with the daily circulation of cash in the country.
Except for the material used by the crooks being of lesser quality compared to real banknotes, the print appeared almost identical and can be passed off as the real thing to the unsuspecting.
Cheras police chief ACP Chong Kok Sin said today in two raids on Saturday police arrested three men in their 30's and 60's opposite a bank in Taman Midah, Cheras and Taman Desa, off Old Klang Road and seized 64 fake RM100 and two RM50 banknotes.
He said the suspects had allegedly preyed on online sellers of mobile phones and used the dud banknotes for the purchase.
"They would call up the seller and meet them to make the purchase with the fake banknotes. The suspects have been actively pulling this off since last month. We advise the public to be wary and not get cheated when carrying out such transactions." he said.
He said police had received reports for four cases with losses totalling to RM4,600 which were allegedly committed by the suspects.
Chong said among the other items seized from the men are laptop computers, paper cutters, a hair dryer, spray paint cans and a money detector – all of which were allegedly used by the suspects to produce the dud notes.