Telephone surveys on counterfeiting 2002-2006

Since 2002, Banco de México has conducted six telephone surveys related to the uses of and preferences by Mexican population for banknotes and coins.

In each, a total of 700 people were surveyed. The results related to counterfeiting from a recent survey (March 2006) are shown in this section. A comparison with results from previous surveys is made whenever is possible.

How often do you verify that banknotes are authentic?

For practical purposes, the answers: "Sometimes", "Hardly ever" and "Never" are interpreted as no verification takes place. This means that 3 out 5 people do not verify banknotes authenticity.


What safety features are you familiar with for identifying the authenticity of banknotes?

According to the survey, the four best-known elements to identify an authentic banknote, are: Security thread, Watermark, Texture and Iridescent band / confetti.

Have you received a counterfeit banknote in the last twelve months?

On March 2006, 19% of the interviewees said to have received a counterfeit banknote. This is 1% higher with respect to the survey results from July 2005, and 7% higher with respect to the results from October 2002.

In every survey, the results show that the percentage of people who have received counterfeit banknotes is lower than the people who has not received any at all.

In what denomination was the counterfeit banknote that you received (in the case that you received one)? This question applied to those who said they had received a counterfeit note.

The distribution per denomination for the counterfeit banknotes received by the interviewees shows a decline of 4.6% in the 200-peso denomination (with respect to the results from July 2005). At the same time, there is also a reduction of 5% for the 100-peso denomination. However, the 50-peso denomination is now on first place.

Separately, in November 2004, a survey was conducted on banknotes and coins, through a module in the National Employment Survey conducted by INEGI (National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics). In this survey, the following question was asked related to counterfeiting:  

At the present moment, could you recognize a counterfeit banknote only by sight or touching?

Distinción entre un billete falso y uno auténtico

The percentage of those surveyed who say they cannot recognize a counterfeit banknote only by sight or touch is greater, with this response about 15% more frequent in rural areas than in urban ones. At the same time, only in the central zone of the country is the percentage of people with an affirmative answer greater.

 

In a complementary way, the following information reflects the statistics of the banknotes received by Banco de México for authenticity analysis, and which turn out to be counterfeit.
 

Banknotes by denomination

The following graph shows the yearly percentage distribution of counterfeit notes received at Banco de México. It shows higher levels on counterfeiting for the denominations of 50, 100 and 200 pesos. On the contrary, the common answer to the question: “In what denomination were the counterfeit banknotes that you received?", refered to the denomination of 200 pesos. In order to be able to make a comparison, this graph considers the previous twelve months to the survey.


Banknotes received vs. banknotes in circulation

An important indicator that is used to measure the problem of counterfeiting is the relationship between the number of counterfeit banknotes received in a certain period and the total number of authentic banknotes in circulation at the end of that period, the latter expressed in millions.

The following graph shows such relationship during 2000-2005 for all the denominations as a whole and individually.

The following graph shows that the 50-peso denomination is the one with the highest ratios.