Is Rs 500 note in your wallet real or fake? Home ministry issues 'high importance’ alert - Here's how to check

Do you have a Rs 500 note in your wallet? The Ministry of Home Affairs wants you to pay close attention to details on the Rs 500 currency note. In a latest development, the MHA has issued a 'high importance' alert regarding circulation of fake notes in the market.

As per a News18 report, the security circular regarding the counterfeit notes has been shared with several agencies including SEBI, DRI, CBI and NIA among others. The home ministry says that the fake notes are very similar to the original currency both in terms of print and quality. This makes the detection of the counterfeit notes difficult for the agencies.

The News18 report says that the fake notes closely resemble the original currency in terms of the shade of the ink used, shape of the letters. The only difference - spelling of Reserve Bank of India has an a instead of e. So, it becomes 'Resarve Bank of India' on the counterfeit notes.

The report further adds that all banks and other financial institutions have been put on high alert regarding the circulation of fake Rs 500 notes. It also adds that the government officials have indicated that a large sum of fake notes have already entered the market in India.

A senior official quoted by News18 also said that there are chances that there may be some links between those circulating counterfeit notes and terror financing. The official, who has not been named, further added that there is no way to find out the extent of the reach of the fake notes in the market. At present, the data available with the Centre include details submitted by the banks. notes submitted to the bank by public. But the actual figure of counterfeit currency notes is said to be much higher than the official record.