The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued a ‘high alert’ about a new counterfeit Rs 500 note that has already been circulated into the market. The alert has been given to major financial and regulatory institutions like the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) National Investigation Agency (NIA) Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and others. It also warns about the similarity between these fake notes and genuine ones. How to Identify a Fake Rs 500 Note? The fake Rs 500 notes are almost similar to the quality and print of authentic notes so its very difficult for any common person to identify it. Especially when we are undertaking any transaction very fast and don’t pay much attention towards notes authenticity its very difficult for the government to find these notes. However there is an error in these counterfeits which can help you to identify them. In the phrase “RESERVE BANK OF INDIA” the letter “E” in the word “RESERVE” has been incorrectly replaced with the letter “A.” This minor error is one way to find the counterfeit notes and save yourself from potential loss. “This subtle error might go unnoticed during casual transactions posing a significant risk” stated a senior government official as per media reports. Nationwide Alert By MHA Financial institutions banks and other related agencies have been put on high alert assuming that a big number of these fake notes could have been in circulation. Photographs of the suspected counterfeit currency note have been distributed to help individuals and institutions identify these notes. Authorities have urged citizens and financial entities to remain vigilant and report any suspicious currency immediately. According to a senior investigator involved in terror financing cases the exact volume of counterfeit notes in circulation remains unknown. Data available to the government comes from counterfeit notes deposited by the public in banks. However the actual numbers can be higher. Government Measures Against Counterfeit Currency The government has taken several steps to address the issue of fake currency. like penal provisions under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 (BNS) and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 (UAPA). Formation of bodies like the National Investigation Agency (NIA) the FICN Coordination Group (FCORD) and the Terror Funding & Fake Currency (TFFC) Cell. All bank branches designated back offices and currency branches have advanced banknote sorting verification and counterfeit detection machines to identify fake currency more effectively.