Fact-check: No, currency notes cannot be identified as fake by serial numbers

Posts online claim that Pakistani citizens can identify fake currency notes by looking at their serial numbers. For example, a Rs500 note starting with "AF", a Rs1,000 note with "CE", or a Rs5,000 note with "HO" will be a counterfeit.

The claim is false.

Claim

On January 27, a Facebook account shared three images of Pakistani currency notes, Rs500, Rs1,000, and Rs5,000. The post claimed that fake notes can be identified by checking the starting letters of their serial numbers.

The post alleged that:

a Rs500 note with the prefix "AF"

a Rs1,000 note with the prefix "CE"

a Rs5,000 note with the prefix "HO"

are fake.

At the time of writing, the post had received 17,000 likes and 15,000 reshares.

Identical claims have also been shared on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube here, here and here.

Fact

There is no such mechanism to identify counterfeit currency based on serial number prefixes, officials have confirmed.

A representative of the State Bank of Pakistan told Geo Fact Check via messages that the online claims are false and inaccurate. He added that people should rely only on official information and press releases available on the central bank’s website and its official social media accounts.

Geo Fact Check also reviewed the State Bank of Pakistan’s official website and verified social media accounts, but did not find any such advisory.

Verdict: The claim that currency notes can be identified as counterfeit based on starting alphabets such as "AF", "CE", and "HO" is incorrect.

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