Where's the fake money coming from that flooded Kosovo market?

Ardiana Pajaziti from Pristina says he has faced such coins on his own.

By buying bread and being neighborhood oven... The worker kindly told me that money was fake. The coin was 2 euros. This experience has made me more aware of what coins I accept in various services”, says Pajaziti for Radio Free Europe.

“E realizes that metal currency 2 euros is fake, because it's easier, so thickness and diameter. Its image is weaker and sometimes it has a warped letter”, says its fellow cityman, Fjolla Vukshinaj, who also encountered fake money.

False money presence confirms even Kosovo police shares of their seizures and the arrest of counterfeiters.

From January to April of this year, police have initiated 363 cases of criminal activity “falsification of money”.

In a move on April 13th, 10.600 false euros were seized. All the confiscated money was two euro coins.

Another action in December seized 63 thousand euros in fake.

A total of 375,000 fakes all of them, 100 and 50 euros, were confiscated in 2021.

A group of waiters, who were detained long ago, were also arrested, distributing money to customers in the Prizren region.

Where does the fake money come from?

At least in two cases of seizures of thousands of fake euros by Kosovo Police, their origins were North Macedonia and Turkey.

In various social networking groups, it is also claimed that in many cases false money comes from outside Kosovo.

In TikTok app, there are a number of profiles advertising fake money. Below these reports are hundreds of comments by people with names and surnames who seek to buy different values of false money.

At various times this year, Radio Free Europe spoke with two profiles that were among the following: “Blepareks” and “Parefals”.

Both people who claim to manage these pages say they can bring fake money to whatever amount is required but do not indicate where.

To look like a potential buyer, REL communicated with them using nonstandard languages.

Asked whether there is money fake in the sale and when it can bring them, “Blepareks” replied: “I can be brought to Kosovo tomorrow. They come by mail. The post office gives the money to”.

REL demanded 1,000 euros and asked how much they cost.

“Blepareks”: 100 euros

REL: Do they really come?

“Bleparex”: Yeah, yeah. Don't worry. Seriously, it's us. We put them in sneakers.

REL: And I paid the mailman 100 euros, you mean?

“Bleparex”: Yeah. And he gives you [money].

The other account in TikTok, “Parefallsks”, as asked if it could send 300 euros urgently, ensures yes, but says the minimum amount of fake money that can be sent is 500 euros.

“Parefalks”: Yes, brother, but 50 euros takes 500 euros [for free], brother. The smallest amount of us is this.

The person who claims to hold this profile requires payment made through microfinance institutions. He does not accept the possibility of paying by mail, so the message says he sends it by mail.

“Parefalks”: No, no brother. I mail him the money, but I don't take payment via mail because it's dangerous, bro.

So as not to commit a crime, REL did not order fake money from these two profiles to confirm whether they are actually sent or not.

However, according to comments on the accounts at TikTok, it seems that many citizens are deceived.

This is the root. Just take the money and then make it a block on all sides. Remember, the Albanian people”, says a comment.

I had an errand, if that's true, but the fee when the mail comes, not the” root, writes another.

The REL asked the Kosovo Police about the investigation of these websites and people who claim to manage them, but, until the publication of this article, there was no answer.

According to the Kosovo Penal Code, anyone who produces counterfeit money to be put in circulation as true is sentenced to prison terms of one to ten years.

Anyone who, knowing that money is counterfeit, takes it and puts it in circulation, is sentenced to prison for between 1 and 8 years.

BQK: lose for both citizens and economy

Kosovo Central Bank (BQK), through a statement given to Radio Free Europe, says fake money, in addition to damaging Kosovo's economy, also causes losses to citizens as final users.

The CEC says that, based on its regulation, the money allegedly false, is withdrawn from circulation and handed over to the Kosovo Police, which sends them for analysis to the Kosovo Agency for Forenzic.

The REL asked the Kosovo Agency for Forenzice what is the overall value of money sent to this institution for analysis and what are the most fake bills actually, but did not get answers.

In an earlier statement, this institution has said that the most forged bills are 100, 50, 2 and 1 euros.

“Select” of Pristina Parking Company

At the end of 2022, the public car parking company Pristina Parking decided not to accept a 2 euro coin.

The chief chief of this company, Sokol Havolli, tells Radio Free Europe that the decision was made after the company, on a daily basis, accepted an average of 100 euros in fake all 2 euro currency.

Over the course of the year, we have estimated that losses for the company could reach 35-45 thousand or even up to 50,000 euros, depending on the intensity of the days”, Havol says.

He says the company he leads has largely eliminated the possibility that the Incasants will accept false money from citizens.

“We have passed very quickly on solutions to this issue, because we've accepted as a donation four devices for identifying counterfeit currency and thus covered the company's four main points, representing about 70 percent of revenues”, Havolli says.

How do you identify fake money?

European financial institutions share some advice on how false money can be identified.

One of the methods is to touch the coin, since fake coins are usually the worst. You can also identify deviations, letters and symbols incompatible with the original.

It is recommended that if you have doubts about the money you accept, kindly ask for another coin. It is suggested that the person in question is kindly explained that he may possess a false coin that conflicts with the law.

It is also suggested that police report the case.