Fake Rs 500 Currency Note, Green Strip Close to Gandhi: Fact Check

Story:

Beware of Fake Rs 500 Currency Note ..having the Green Strip close to Mahatma Gandhi ji.

Other Versions

Forwarded as Received

Pls do not accept Rs.500 Currency note on which the green strip is close to Gandhi ji because it’s fake. Accept a currency note where the strip is *near Governor’s signature.*

Please pass this message to all family and friends

Fact Check:

Certain messages doing rounds online purport to show and warn Indians about Fake Rs 500 Currency Note with Green Strip Close to Mahatma Gandhi ji. They tell people to accept only the genuine currency notes with the strip near Governor’s signature. Some messages also carry the disclaimer ‘forwarded as received’. Despite the popularity of the picture and the messages, the claims are not true.

Rs 500 Note with Green Strip Close to Gandhi Not Fake

The picture messages in question are doing rounds on social media platforms like Facebook and through WhatsApp forwards, since at least 2017. In the accompanying image showing two 500 rupees notes, one note in fact has the green strip closer to Gandhi image, unlike in normal note. However, it is not a fake currency note. Below is a YouTube video from July 2017 describing the case of 500 rupees note.

Reserve Bank of India introduced the new Rs 500 currency note in November 2016 after note ban and demonetization. Like in old notes, the green strip is a security feature among news ones. RBI website rbi.org.in shows and describes the new security features in 500 rupees note. When the note it tilted, the windowed security thread changes color from Green to Blue. Other than that, RBI does not mention about placement of the security thread.

After introduction of new 500 rupees notes in November 2016, The Economic Times website economictimes.indiatimes.com reported about circulation of different variants of the notes. Back then, RBI spokesperson Alpana Killawala said, “It is likely that notes with printing defect has got released due to the current rush. However, people can freely accept such a note in transaction or return it to RBI.”

So, the messages showing and warning Indians about fake Rs 500 currency note with green strip close to Mahatma Gandhi are hoaxes. The old rumors appear to have surfaced again after reports suggesting the new designs of Rs 500 and Rs 2000 notes are getting prone to counterfeits. So, it is better to be aware of the security features on the currency notes and keep an eye on the ones you are using.

Hoax or Fact:

Hoax.