POLICE are asking shoppers and business owners to be on the lookout after an influx of counterfeit $10 notes.
Robinvale police have confirmed that they have found eight counterfeit notes, all $10 denomination, across Robinvale.
But Acting Sergeant Jason Downie said the fake notes were often easy to distinguish from real ones.
"Once we are able to get a close look at it, people can usually identify it pretty easily," he said.
"At this stage, all of the counterfeits we have found have been the old-style $10 notes.
"We usually get people to have a look at the (Reserve Bank) website to know what a real note looks like.
"The counterfeit notes feel like an inferior kind of plastic, they’re very discoloured and are missing some of the markings that you would usually find on a real note.
"These do have a lot of misprints on them, and the blue ink tends to run across the note."
Sgt Downie said that while it was rare to find counterfeit money, it was important to quickly stop the spread.
"We usually find counterfeit notes in waves," he said. "But I’ve been here in Robinvale for almost two years and it’s the first time I’ve come across it.
"But when you think you've got one or two, the number that you find can increase quite quickly.
"We want to be able to notify as many businesses as we can straightaway, which is a good thing about being in a small town.
"Unfortunately, the notes are able to spread across the region to places like Swan Hill and Mildura.
"We are trying to do all we can to contain the issue, to keep those notes as local as possible.
"We want to make everyone aware of this, but also make the people involved realise that we’re all on the lookout."
Sgt Downie said anyone who thinks they have a counterfeit note should contact Robinvale police immediately.
"We don’t want the public taking any risks," he said. "Obviously refuse the sale if you think anyone is trying to pay with a counterfeit note.
"We’ve had cases where businesses have called us out to have a look at a note because they thought they had been given a counterfeit.
"But the problem is now that these notes are out in the public, it’s not so much the ‘bad guy’ doing this, but they could be in the possession of someone innocent."
The maximum penalty for making counterfeit bank notes is 14 years' imprisonment, while the maximum penalty for knowingly using counterfeit money is 12 years' imprisonment.
Police have referred the case to the Australian Federal Police and continue their investigations.
