Paid with a counterfeit 50,000-won bill and pocketed 32,000 won in change

Self-Employed Person Reported to Police, Under Investigation
Incident of Buying Vegetables with Counterfeit Bills Occurred Last Month as Well

A self-employed business owner shared a story about discovering that a 50,000 won bill given by a customer was counterfeit and subsequently reporting it to the police.

On the 12th, a post titled "They paid with a counterfeit 50,000 won bill" was uploaded to the self-employed community 'Apeunikka Sajangida' (Because It Hurts, I'm a Boss).

The author, Mr. A, wrote, "I received two 50,000 won bills from a customer who ate 68,000 won worth of food and gave back 32,000 won in change. However, one of those bills was counterfeit," and posted a photo of the 50,000 won bill he received from the customer.

[Photo by Self-Employed Community 'Apeunikka Sajangida']

The counterfeit bill revealed by Mr. A looked very similar to a genuine bill at first glance, but its texture and size were different, and the back had the word "SPECIMEN" prominently printed.

Mr. A explained, "I found out when I was settling accounts after closing the business. At first, I thought 'the hologram is all peeled off,' but upon closer inspection, I realized the texture was different and the size was smaller."

He added, "A part-time worker handled the payment. Even though a cash receipt was issued, I don't know if the number is real, and four digits in the middle appeared as ****, so I couldn't verify it."

Mr. A described the two men who paid with the counterfeit bills as appearing to be in their late 20s to early 30s, and said he reported the incident to the police along with CCTV footage from the restaurant showing their faces.

He said, "I really don't understand why a healthy young person would do something like this," and added, "Did they know each other and use counterfeit bills together?"

Netizens responded with comments such as, "It's so obvious just by looking at it, yet they still do such things," "Should we start suspecting cash payments now?" and "If a cash receipt was issued, maybe they used it unknowingly."

Meanwhile, last month, in a traditional market in Daegu, a middle-aged woman bought 8,000 won worth of vegetables with a counterfeit 50,000 won bill and received 42,000 won in change. The street vendor who discovered this later reported it to the police. On the 13th, the police arrested a woman in her 60s suspected of using counterfeit bills and are investigating her.

According to the Bank of Korea, genuine bills reveal hidden images when held up to the light, and the hologram's Taegeuk pattern changes depending on the angle when tilted. Additionally, the numbers and portrait areas have a raised texture that can be felt.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.