Counterfeit money is being sold widely online near Tet.

Information about selling counterfeit money is flooding the social network Facebook.

Counterfeit money "rampant"

Just go to Facebook, type in the search keywords “buy fake money”, “fake money in Nghe An”… and very quickly after that, a series of Facebook pages will appear posting information about selling fake money. The buying and selling of fake money online is quite public, challenging the authorities with attractive offers such as: “98% similar to real money”, “no deposit required”, “fast payment”,… along with the phone numbers of the sellers.

Counterfeit money sellers do not hesitate to advertise loudly on social networks. Even when people comment and ask how to buy, they always answer calmly without the slightest fear that what they are doing is breaking the law.

On the Cho Vinh Online fanpage, a Facebook user named Tran Van Huy openly advertised counterfeit money for sale. According to this Facebook user, this counterfeit money originated from Thailand and is 98% similar to the real thing, and if customers buy it, it will be delivered to their hands, without requiring a deposit. When some people messaged to request a specific quote, they were replied to in private messages. Some others warned that selling counterfeit money is against the law and threatened to call the police, but the person posting the information was not only unafraid but also defiant.

It is known that if the buyer wants to buy fake money, he will pay by scratch card and receive the goods at a secret location chosen by the seller. Accordingly, 1 million real money can buy 8 million fake money, 2 million can buy 20 million fake money with different denominations, mainly 200 thousand dong, 500 thousand dong.

The trick of 1 for 8, or 2 for 20 is actually a scam. And in fact, because of greed and gullibility, many people have lost money to scammers selling fake money on social networking sites. In June 2017, the Criminal Police Department of Nghe An Police arrested Thach Thi Nga (born in 1996), residing in Hamlet 6, Nghi Lien Commune, Vinh City, for fraud and property appropriation.

The police determined that Nga had created a fake Facebook page to sell counterfeit money, the images of which were taken from the internet. After posting the page online, when a customer wanted to buy and agreed on a price, Nga asked the customer to deposit 30% by submitting a phone card, then the goods would be delivered to a predetermined address. However, after the customer sent the card serial number to Nga, the subject locked the Facebook page.

Nguyen Tat Thang was sentenced to 8 years in prison for circulating counterfeit money. Photo: Nguyen Hung

Previously, in May 2017, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial of Nguyen Tat Thang (born in 1970, residing in Quynh Tho commune, Quynh Luu) for the crime of "Circulating counterfeit money". At the end of 2012, Thang met and fell in love with Tran Thi Tuyet (born in 1972, residing in Ky Tan commune, Tan Ky). Tuyet confided that due to business losses, she owed money to many people, and asked Thang to think of a way to help her earn money to pay off her debts.

Through a friend in Quang Binh province, Thang knew that Duong Thi Thuy (born in 1966, residing in Cao Loc district, Lang Son) bought and sold counterfeit money, so he introduced her to Tuyet. After that, Thang and Tuyet went to Lang Son to meet Thuy and bought 41.8 million VND worth of counterfeit money worth 200,000 VND for 8.5 million VND. Tuyet used this counterfeit money to pay off her debt and gave it to others to spend. The second time in January 2013, Thang and Tuyet continued to order 96 million VND worth of counterfeit money (worth 500,000 VND) from Thuy for 26 million VND. In the trial at the end of 2013, Nghe An Provincial People's Court sentenced Tran Thi Tuyet to 11 years in prison. Nguyen Tat Thang was sentenced to 8 years in prison.

Handle both sellers and buyers
It must be affirmed that the act of buying, selling, storing, transporting, producing and circulating counterfeit money is a violation of the law. In fact, in recent times, Nghe An Police have discovered and arrested many subjects who bought, sold and circulated counterfeit money. These subjects were then prosecuted and brought to trial, receiving appropriate penalties.

However, the subjects who buy, sell and circulate counterfeit money continue to do so even though they know it is a violation of the law. According to Major Ha Huy Duc - Head of the High-Tech Crime Prevention Team, Criminal Police Department (Nghe An Police), detecting and arresting subjects who advertise counterfeit money on social networks is not simple because the information on it is all fake. Some people were deceived but because they knew their behavior was a violation of the law, they did not report it and were willing to accept losing money.

Current laws have quite complete and strict regulations on the buying, selling and circulating of counterfeit money.

According to Dr. Lawyer Nguyen Trong Hai - Head of Trong Hai and Associates Law Office, regardless of the stage of the act of buying, selling, or circulating counterfeit money, whether the transaction is successful or not, the individual will be held criminally responsible. If the counterfeit money transaction is successful, both the buyer and the seller commit the crime of circulating counterfeit money, regardless of the amount of counterfeit money. In the case where an individual transfers real money to buy counterfeit money but the seller does not deliver the counterfeit money, the buyer will still be prosecuted for the crime of circulating counterfeit money. The seller will be prosecuted for the crime of fraud and appropriation of property if there is sufficient basis to constitute this crime.

In fact, the buying and selling of counterfeit money is taking place openly, while people's ability to distinguish between real and fake money is very limited, making this fraudulent behavior still "viable". It is possible that these people's understanding of the law is limited, but it is also possible that the benefits from buying and selling counterfeit money are so great that they disregard the law. And according to the assessment of the police, the information about selling counterfeit money online is just a trick to deceive greedy people, in reality there are no counterfeit money transactions as information on social networks. Therefore, everyone needs to be extremely vigilant to avoid violating the law. In addition, the authorities need to take strong action to prevent the buying and selling and circulation of counterfeit money, especially at the end of the year.

To prevent and avoid being deceived when using and circulating counterfeit money, people also need to get into the habit of checking money. According to the State Bank, consumers need to check the security features of real money. The color of counterfeit money is often darker, the patterns are often unclear, blurred, and not as sharp as real money. When touching with your hand, counterfeit money feels thinner than real money, counterfeit money is not rough, but is often smooth and shiny.