Real vs. Fake Zimbabwe Notes
Latest on Counterfeit 100 Trillion Notes and Novelties
As I am sure you are aware, rising demand and value of the 100 trillion series notes has attracted the wrong kind of attention. As more and more of these counterfeit notes hit the market, they are causing a panic as customers rush to check if their notes are indeed authentic. There has been much confusion and grey area into what is a "novelty" in terms of Zimbabwe currency. We would like to clear up some of the confusion with the following cases and point out who has been selling these products with the following cases:
Case 1. Gold Plated and Novelty Print Zimbabwe Currency
Case 2. Fake Zimbabwe Currency
Case 3. Mr Bandz and Fake Zimbabwe Notes
Case 1: Gold Plated and Novelty Print Zimbabwe Currency
These are the eBay sellers of Novelty Gold Plated and Print Zimbabwe banknotes:
1. From China: gol5873
2. From China: hapodz
3. From China: d-1096
4. From USA: misterbanknote
They are making and selling an unofficial print of Zimbabwe banknotes that began offering fake gold plated banknotes and coins of the 100 Trillion Series. These are not printed from the reserve bank of Zimbabwe and they are made from fake golden foil from China. There are four different variations of these gold banknotes that we know of (including large box sets) and a coin set that was never Zimbabwe currency. Screenshots of the products from eBay have been provided below:
A. Colored Golden Plated 100 Trillion
B. Colored Silver Plated 100 Trillion
C. Zimbabwe Coins
D. Silver Plated 100 Trillion
E. Golden Plated 100 Trillion
F. Golden 1000 Piece Box
G. Golden 100 Piece Box
H. Novelty One Hundred Quintillion Dollars and Novelty Quintillion Santa
I. Novelty One Hundred Quadrillion Dollars
J. Novelty Gold Five Octillion Dollars and Novelty Paper Print
K. Novelty Gold 100 Decillion Dollars and Novelty Paper Print
https://www.ebay.com/itm/303253628520?ul_noapp=true
L. Novelty One Vigintillion Zimbabawe Dollars
M. Novelty Tredecillion Zimbabawe Dollars
N. Novelty Sexvigintillion Zimbabawe Dollars
O. Novelty Quinquagintillion Zimbabawe Dollars
The Next 4 Series of Novelty Notes Come in this Distinct Bundle Packaging
P. Novelty One Hundred Trillion Zimbabawe Dollars
Q. Novelty One Dumillion Zimbabawe Dollars
R. Novelty One Myrillion Zimbabawe Dollars
S. FAKE One Hundred Billion Zimbabawe Dollar Special-Agro Cheque
Case 2: Fake Zimbabwe 100 Trillion Currency
After months of investigating we are now ready to share some information on what we believe are a string of fraudulent companies that sell counterfeit Zimbabwe currency. We first became aware of such a company when we got a call from an unfortunate customer that had not received their order. When we asked for an order number they gave us a 4-digit number and that was the first red flag because our order numbers use 5-digit numbers. They said that it has been weeks and they have not received their notes or heard back from emails raising the second red flag (we have a good track record of fast delivery and prompt replies). The customer then asked, “aren’t you collectiblenotes.net?”
and we knew immediately this would be a case of fraud because we are 100trillions.com. We checked out their website collectiblenotes.net and found that they have literally stolen word-for-word our terms and conditions and illegally used our phone number.
This seller has only one website left that is active, the others have been shut down:
(Still operating and selling fake banknotes)
https://zimtrillions.com/
Here is a list of all the fraudulent companies (currently shut down) that we know of:
https://zimbabwecurrencyworld.com/
We created a case on Shopify to try and take them down because many people where being defrauded with cheaply made counterfeits. We did not know the extent of the fraud until one customer of the fraud gave us their fake order out of frustration (Blurred dates and sensitive information to protect their identity).
Inside the envelope along with the invoice was a 100 trillion note that looked a little off. On the images below, you can clearly see the low resolution compared to a real note.
Under UV light you will easily be able to identify the fake as none of the security features appear compared to the real notes.
Shopify was quick to respond and shut the site down and we thought that would be the end of it but unfortunately, we were wrong. We received a call from a distraught Zimbabwe note collector with a similar problem as collectiblenotes.net but this time it came from a different website. This second online store popped up seemingly out of nowhere and was doing the same fraudulent activity this time with the domain name zimnotes.com (no longer active). We filed the same complaint after we noticed our phone number once again being used fraudulently and Shopify was quick to respond.
Everything was fine for a few months until recently when we had a customer call us and explain that they had been victim of fraud. They used our UV light we sent to them on a Zim note that they bought from a website called the thecurrencystore.net only to find that it was fake. Notice how the mailing packaging and invoice looks identical to the first store collectiblenotes.net(Images #9 and #10, blurred dates and sensitive information to protect their identity). Needless to say, the person was devastated because they thought they were getting a great deal and bought multiple notes only to realize that they are fake.
The latest questionable website is thenotestore.net, discovered once again for using our phone number on their terms and conditions. Since our complaint, our number has been taken down but the website still remains active. The images used for the reverse of the 100 trillion note is even of a fake note.
In addition, the terms and conditions state the printing of fake notes on "non banknote paper"
Case 3: Mr. Bandz and Fake Zimbabwe Notes
Mr. Bandz was selling fake 100 Trillion notes on the website listed below. It failed and closed as well as on ebay:
Both of his websites is are down
www.mrbandz.com
Mr. Bandz ebay username is
https://ebay.com/usr/locallylostebay
A. Fake Photo copy of 100 Trillion:
Real Zimbabwe Currency
Rest assured that we only sell the real thing (we got them from Zimbabwe) at 100Trillions. We wanted to point some things out just in case you where unsure of your note. First are the obvious features like the golden strip running along the left side of the face with the words RBZ and the g
Rest assured that we only sell the real thing (we got them from Zimbabwe) at 100Trillions. We wanted to point some things out just in case you where unsure of your note. First are the obvious features like the golden strip running along the left side of the face with the words RBZ and the golden/bronze Zimbabwe Bird on the bottom right that shifts in color. Then there’s the quality of the print, make sure that you can see the fine details of the drawing. Also the serial number ink is slightly raised and you can see the complete denomination when held up to the light. These suggestions are good, but best way to tell if a note is real is under a UV/Blacklight in a DARK room setting. The entire note changes color to blue and the peach colored center of the note changes to yellow. The serial numbers change colors from red and black to orange and green respectively. The center strip and Zimbabwe Bird also change into a blue color. We guarantee all our Zimbabwe banknotes to be 100% authentic,
We print the serial numbers of every (NEW) individual note we verify on the certificate of authenticity
We also have a dedicated page with images of the entire Zimbabwe 2008 series notes and bearer cheques for your reference. Since we get many questions regarding what light source should be used, we decided to start offering the UV/Black lights that we use! To get your own click the image of the UV light below!
If after all this you still have any doubts, feel free to contact us at (866)242-2154 and we will be happy to assist. As always,