Fake 1000 Peso bills paid at Eastwood Night Market

Three weeks ago, the Marketplace, a night food bazaar organized by IL Mercanti Metrowalk Management reopened at a different location. The night food bazaar was originally located at Citywalk 2, Eastwood City, Libis last March 2012 but was transferred to a more visible location at the open parking lot near Megaworld and IBM buildings.

The reopening of Marketplace was a huge success. Operation hours were also adjusted from 11pm-9am to 8pm-4am. This means that the food bazaar was available for people who work regular hours, from morning until early evening. Since the food bazaar was made available to a new batch of customers, plus previous call center customers, who usually buy food between 10pm to 2am, the place was jam packed as early as 9pm.

Food concessionaires welcomed more customers and were really happy because of the additional income from new clients. What ruined a perfect reopening of the event was several incidents of fake 1000 peso bills paid by syndicates disguised as ordinary employees. From what I gathered that evening, a total of six 1000 peso bills were discovered, but the they were already paid to unsuspecting bazaar staff.

Since the incident, Luigi's employees were given a short orientation on how to detect fake bills even without using a money detector. Here are a few tips:

1. Watermark - it is the silhouette of the portrait on the face of the note. When viewed against the light, it will show the exact and detailed portrait as seen on the face of the bill.

2. Bill texture - the bill is not 100% paper. If the bill is relatively new, it will be difficult to tear it compared to ordinary paper used by counterfeit groups. It was mentioned that the bill has a mixture of cloth or fabric which makes it durable and resistant to tear even after washing with soap and water.

3. Colors - Banko Central ng Pilipinas use vivid colors. Fake bills usually use dull colors.

For more information on detecting real against fake peso bills, visit this site: http://www.pinoymoneytalk.com/detect-fake-currency/