Central Bank of Estonia reports 1,195 counterfeit euro banknotes found in 2024 driven by a single large confiscation

The Central Bank of Estonia published updated figures on counterfeit euro banknotes detected in Estonia in 2024, reporting 1,195 counterfeits, up by 931 from the previous year. It attributed the jump mainly to one case in which a large number of counterfeit notes were confiscated, while noting that Estonia still ranks among the euro area countries with the fewest counterfeits. The confiscated notes in the single incident accounted for around one third of all counterfeits found in 2024. The most common denominations were EUR 20 (477, about 40% of the total), followed by EUR 50 (295) and EUR 100 (202). Copies with altered designs such as “prop money” or “movie money” made up 34% of the counterfeits detected in Estonia, and most of the counterfeits were described as unsophisticated; the central bank reiterated that authenticity can often be checked by looking, touching and tilting, and that suspected counterfeit cash should be passed to the police for expert testing.