(Business in Cameroon) - Only four months after the introduction of the new range, counterfeit banknotes are already on the market. For now, the situation was only observed in Pitoa, in the North region.

The subdivisional authority of the locality, Joseph Densou, issued a press release this week to warn the population of the situation. He reassured that the gang of counterfeiters has been dismantled “thanks to the good collaboration of local authorities,” but he did not provide any further detail, except that most of the fake banknotes are CFA10,000 and CFA5,000 notes. Neither the identity of the counterfeiters nor the volume of counterfeit notes in circulation has been revealed.

Joseph Densou calls on the population to remain vigilant during their financial transaction so that all the fake notes can be identified and put out of circulation. He says he counts on them to be in close collaboration with relevant authorities.

As a reminder, the new banknotes were touted to be “more secure and difficult to forge”. Yet only four months after their release, counterfeiters have found a way to make theirs.