Some 60 counterfeit bills have been found in four prefectures in Tohoku this week, it has been learned.

The high-quality fake 10,000 yen bills turned up in Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures between Monday and Friday. They were slightly redder than normal bills and had no watermarks. However, an expert says the quality could indicate the involvement of professional counterfeiters.

"It's hard to tell the difference. I realized the bill was a fake only after I checked the watermark," said the 65-year-old owner of a liquor shop.

"The holograms printed on the fake bills are sophisticated," said Tomohiko Endo, chief of the Counterfeit Currency Detection Research. Endo pointed out that the fake bills may have been produced using a color printer without an anti-counterfeiting function, which went on sale before 2005.

To read the complete article, see:High quality counterfeit banknotes found in Tohoku(mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20100130p2a00m0na006000c.html)