Türkiye is on high alert following the discovery of counterfeit dollar bills that are said to have been printed abroad and are circulated within the country, local media reported on Wednesday.
Money-counting machines and ATMs with outdated software reportedly failed to detect the counterfeit currency, prompting a temporary suspension of transactions involving $50 and older $100 bills at currency exchange offices, the private broadcaster CNBC-e said.
The fake bills have reportedly originated from the Middle East, Asia and the Balkans, the NTV television said.
It cited footage from a security camera at a currency exchange in Istanbul that captured a suspect attempting to circulate counterfeit $50 bills.
Last week, security forces arrested nine suspects and seized counterfeit $50 bills in operations in Istanbul, Balıkesir, and Çorum provinces.
Authorities revealed that the network was loading counterfeit dollars into ATMs, before withdrawing them as Turkish lira.
Experts have highlighted the difficulty in distinguishing fake bills from genuine ones, noting that counterfeit dollars pass through both money-counting machines and ATMs undetected.
Traders, including those at the famous Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, are said to have begun updating their money-counting machines' software.
"Right now, counterfeit $50 and old $100 bills are circulating in the market. We constantly update our machines, and currently, these bills don’t get past them. To avoid any risk, we verify by hand, said Yüksel Durmuş, a tradesman at a covered bazaar in northwestern Bursa province.
"Even before the advent of money-counting machines, we were already checking notes manually, so we've become experts in this regard," Durmuş told the Ihlas News Agency (IHA).
Printing and knowingly using counterfeit currency carry prison sentences ranging from two to 12 years.
Reports indicate that approximately $600 million worth of counterfeit banknotes have infiltrated the Turkish market, IHA reported.
