mmg.com.au

District residents are being urged to check their $50 notes after a counterfeit note was presented to Heathcote Newsagency last week.

Newsagent Wayne McKay said the note was handed to his wife, Karen.

‘‘The colour just wasn’t right,’’ Mr McKay said.

‘‘It also had a small tear in it and you could see it was made of paper because it was white inside, so it definitely wasn’t a real $50 note because our notes aren’t printed on paper.’’

Mr McKay said another feature of the note that gave it away was the lack of embossing in the plastic window.

‘‘If you look at a proper $50 note there’s the white stars in the plastic window, but the number 50 is also embossed in the plastic, and they weren’t there.’’

Staff at the Heathcote and District Community Bank said they had been informed of the notes and urged residents to check their $50 notes for a watermark, which appears on the left of the plastic window on the note.

‘‘If there’s no watermark and you can’t see the fifties embossed in the window, then it’s a fake and the bank won’t accept the note as legal tender, so you’ll lose your money,’’ Mr McKay said.

Mr McKay said they handed the note back to the customer and explained why they were unable to accept it.

‘‘He seemed genuine that he didn’t realise it was counterfeit, and when we explained why we couldn’t accept it he was understanding.

‘‘If you hand a fake $50 note to me and I accept it, I’ve just lost $50 so if you get one, take it back to where you got it from and ask for a real one,’’ Mr McKay said.