A taxi driver sniffed out fake cash - here's how you can spot it too

What would you do if you suspected you had been handed fake cash?

Last month, one taxi driver in Nottingham was so suspicious, he decided to drive his customer straight to a police station, and the man was later arrested on suspicion of several offences.

Counterfeit notes are easier to spot since the switch from paper to polymer, but some still slip through.

So how can you make sure you're not caught out, and how common is fake cash?

Rhys Phillips, chief cashier of the Bank of England, says counterfeit banknotes are "very rare" and make up "a tiny fraction of 1% of the notes that are in circulation".

For example, in 2025, a total of 200,000 counterfeit notes were discovered with a notional face value of £3.97m - although they are worthless in reality because they cannot be spent legally.

This might sound a lot - but there were 4.729 billion notes in circulation that year, with a value of £85.872bn.

The number is also a lot lower than it was when paper banknotes were used.

For example, in 2012, there were 747,000 counterfeit notes discovered with a notional face value of £13.73m.

Nottinghamshire Police says the taxi driver knew the money he was given was counterfeit "by the look and feel" of it.

The Bank of England says the polymer substrate that modern notes are printed on is very hard to produce, and therefore very hard to counterfeit.

So if a banknote does not look and feel as expected, this is an obvious sign it is not genuine.

Phillips says there are also two key security features that people should look for to make sure a note is genuine - the hologram and the see-through window.

"On the side of the note that has the monarch's head - look at the bottom, there's a hologram," he says.

"As you turn the note from side to side, it flips from saying Five, Ten, Twenty, or Fifty, to Pounds, and back again."

The see-through window is above the hologram.

"On the front of the note, the detailed foil should have a gold colour to it, whereas on the back, it should look silver," says Phillips.

"If you look at those, study those features, and they look right, the chances are you can be confident your notes are authentic."

Phillips says counterfeit notes can come from a range of sources.

"In the past, you've seen cases where the groups who have been responsible for these counterfeits have been quite large, quite organised, quite sophisticated," he says.

"They are varying degrees of complexity and realism. Some of them are poor quality, they are just flat, printed ink on polymer.

"Some of them try to emulate some of the more advanced security features that we put in our notes, although importantly, any counterfeit that we are aware of can be detected using the techniques that we employ."

Phillips says a lot of counterfeit notes are coming from overseas at the moment.

"There's also been changes in how these notes are distributed," he says.

"So we are aware they are often being sold on social media or via online platforms."

Phillips says you should reject the note you are offered if you have any doubts about its authenticity.

And if you accidentally accept one, do not try to spend it.

"Don't forget, it's illegal to knowingly sell or pass on a counterfeit note, so if you do that you risk being prosecuted yourself," he says.

Instead, contact your local police force, which may want to take it from you as evidence in an investigation.

"If they don't, you can send it to the Bank of England, where our staff will analyse and use the note as part of evidence in the wider fight against counterfeiting," adds Phillips.

"If you send it to us and it turns out to be authentic, we will reimburse you. Unfortunately, we can't reimburse people for counterfeit notes because they are valueless."

He says the Nottingham taxi driver "did the right thing" by alerting police, but adds: "I certainly wouldn't be suggesting that people should put their personal safety at risk."

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