Counterfeit banknote detections have reached an eight-year high in Australia, with small businesses losing hundreds of dollars to fake cash.
Some 40,613 counterfeit banknotes were detected in the 12 months to March 2026, according to Reserve Bank of Australia figures. $50 and $100 notes account for around 95% of the total.
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The counterfeit banknote detection rate rose 277% from December 2024 to March 2026.
Adrian Erdedi, owner of Thirroul-based açaí bowl shop Blessed Bowls in NSW, told SmartCompany his business lost approximately $250 to counterfeit notes.
“We received a heap of them over the course of a couple of weeks, and we’ve actually had a couple more come through recently,” Erdedi said.
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Staff discovered the fake notes after customers had left. Erdedi has since introduced UV banknote checkers and additional staff training.
“It’s obviously hard on small business. Everything is hard as it is, and then this is just an added complexity that we really don’t need,” Erdedi said.
Calvin Gorsuch, owner-operator of Thirroul homewares and variety store Ohana Home, said his business first encountered counterfeit cash last year, when a staff member accepted a fake $50 note.
“The $50 bill was definitely like a thicker polymer, so it was a bit more crunchy than a normal bill,” Gorsuch told SmartCompany.
Gorsuch bought a UV banknote checker, which staff recently used to identify and reject a fake $100 note.
“It just takes a few seconds, we just slide it under the lamp, and then we can verify it’s real,” he said.
Gorsuch said refusing suspicious notes can create tense situations. He tells his staff to avoid accusing customers of wrongdoing.
Organised crime eyes Australia’s cash economy
Associate Professor Terry Goldsworthy, a criminologist at Bond University, said the increase in counterfeit detections had reversed a decade-long decline.
“It’s a very sharp spike,” Goldsworthy told SmartCompany.
He said the detection rate remained below the approximately 30 notes per million recorded in 2015, but was now well above the longer-term average of 12 per million.
Australian Border Force detected 700 counterfeit currency consignments in 2025–26, compared with just three detections in 2022, according to data cited by Goldsworthy.
The face value of detected counterfeit currency also increased, going from approximately $25,000 to $6.1 million over the same period.
Goldsworthy said the figures suggest organised criminal groups are increasingly involved in counterfeiting Australian currency.
He said offenders may target busy retail outlets, poorly lit stores and inexperienced staff, using counterfeit $50 and $100 notes to purchase inexpensive items and receive genuine cash as change.
“For the smaller businesses, it’s problematic because that’s money they’ve lost,” Goldsworthy said.
“It’s not something they can necessarily absorb.”
Spotting the fakes
Goldsworthy urged retailers to train staff to recognise counterfeit notes, check security features and report suspicious currency to police.
The RBA provides guidance on identifying fake notes, while UV checkers can offer additional protection.
“It just comes down to staff being confident and comfortable checking those notes and making sure that they are correct and not fake,” Erdedi said.