Counterfeit notes on the rise – Central Bank
CSNA attends Central Bank forum, reviewing Access to Cash updates and counterfeit note trends in Ireland
Print3 November 2025
The CSNA was recently represented at the Retail Cash Forum twice-yearly update from the Central Bank.
In addition to updates on the Access to Cash Act, and how it will impact ATM and CIT providers (at last), the Bank provided an update on the levels of counterfeit notes (and coins) in circulation and detected in Ireland.
Sterling and dollars
While most notes detected are Euro denominations, the Gardai have also been made aware of efforts to pass off $100 bills and £Sterling notes.
60% off all notes detected are €50, a further 27% are €20 with 8% being €10.
The remaining 5% were classed as “other”.
There have been 800 individual detections of Euro notes in Ireland, and it is estimated that 18 notes per million legal tender notes are counterfeit throughout the Eurozone.
Takeaways for retailers
While the Central Bank and Gardai would advise retailers who are presented with suspected fake notes to hold onto them (without having accepted them for payment) they are also fully aware that such a task is very difficult to carry out due to the possibility of threatening and abusive responses from the person attempting the pass off.
They do however suggest that a report of the incident, plus any CCTV footage be given to the local Gardai who may be able to investigate further.
The Central Bank has a Section on Counterfeit notes and detection here.
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