New Brazilian banknotes are most conterfeited

Despite massive efforts on the part of the Central Bank and Casa de Moeda to introduce banknotes that are much more difficult to counterfeit because of new security features the new R$50,00 and R$100,00 notes are the most counterfeited of all. The fact is that you stand a 4 times greater chance to receive a new note that is counterfeit than with the old banknotes. There are two reasons for this. First of all the notes are so new in circulation that the general public is really not sure about all of the security features and are therefore prone to accepting more false banknotes, then passing them on to other unsuspecting individuals. The second reason is the fact that counterfeit banknotes in these denominations of exceptionally high quality, sufficiently so as to even fool bank staff in Brazil, are coming in from Paraguay. There used to be a time when you could be sure that the banknotes you got from the bank or from an ATM were genuine - NOT ANYMORE! Be extremely careful when receiving any of these new notes and if you suspect anything wrong do not accept them. Remember, even if you do so unknowingly, passing a counterfeit banknote is a federal crime in Brazil. It is worth taking the extra precautions in order not to wind up on the wrong side of the Feds.