Europol alert: Albanian Euro forgers

The Pan-European Union police force, Europol, has issued an alert that Albanian criminal organisations in Macedonia and Kosovo are planning to flood the market with false Euro notes.

The British newspaper, Financial Times, speaks of an “imminent threat”, while Europol Deputy Director Willie Bruggeman declared “We are receiving intelligence that counterfeiters from these countries are active and could flood the markets with false currency from January”.

The Euro replaces the currency of 12 EU member states (the three countries not adopting the Euro are the United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden) on January 1st. Due to the fact that it is unknown to the population, it will be easy for counterfeiters to flood the market with false currency.

The notes more likely to be counterfeited are the highest 100 and 200 Euro notes. Citizens of countries outside the European Union should exchange their currency in pounds, Deutchmarks and other currencies used in the EU, since these notes will become invalid during the coming months.

Kosovo and Macedonia have decided to adopt the Euro as their new currency, while other non-EU member states are considering to do the same. To avoid problems with change and exchange in the first months after the Euro comes into circulation, citizens are being advised to use plastic money.

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY PRAVDA.Ru