Counterfeit Money on high circulation in Cameroon

Courtesy - Harry Ndienla Yemti

Source of the money remains a mystery as even security officials have been receiving them as bribe

There has been an overflow of forged money (both local and foreign) in the Republic of Cameroon, of recent and particularly in the country’s economic capital of Douala. A young man barely escaped lynching here when an irate mob pounced on him for attempting to dupe a woman with a forged 10.000 FCFA banknoterecently. He was only timely saved by patrolling police.

Such scenes are fast becoming routine in the country and especially urban areas where staffers at bank, micro-finance, money exchange outfits and fuel pumping stations admit they are increasingly detecting dozens of counterfeit money daily. Here, customers jumble them with good ones to carry out their transactions’ “Look at this stack here. They are all fake money
customers’ mix with good ones. We suffer the losses”. A bank worker explained.

The sham currencies now abundantly mingling in the country come in all form; from coins through available banknotes.

At some markets vigilant traders spend time facing banknotes against the sun to verify their geniuses before customers can be served. Other throw coins on cement floor and listen absorbedly for the reverberation produced before they can accept them. But where the abundantly circulating counterfeit money emanates from is yet secrecy. Some traders who have quite a number say they are scared of contacting the police because they may end up earning accusations as manufacturers of the fake money. They wait patiently and try, on their turns to dupe unsuspecting and less-
frequent customers. Taxi drivers are not spared in the exchange as some night passengers make use of counterfeit money for
their fare.
A taxi driver once said he has been severally warned by some bribe-taking policemen on the road not to dare give them counterfeit money or they will deal with him.
Another solution, the most conventional probably is the increasing usage of detectors, to read out fake banknotes from valid once. But these are only mostly available at the big financial institution and supermarkets. And that is only as far as it can go, as
those dealing in coins generally remain at the mercy of the counterfeiters and their supposed network of changers.