Prostitutes working in Kolkata's largest red-light area are being trained by an NGO to identify fake currency notes to prevent them from being duped by their clients.

The training programme, conducted by Durbar Mahila Samanaya Committee, an NGO working for the sex workers, will teach them to distinguish between genuine and counterfeit notes by touch and from hearing the faint rustle of the paper.

In the last few months, there have been several instances of customers slipping counterfeit notes to prostitutes, taking advantage of dim lighting at brothels in the Sonagachi redlight area, an NGO member said.

Most of them realised they were duped only when they went to deposit their earnings at the USHA Bank, a bank set-up for betterment and development of their living conditions.

According to a prostitute, it is the first time customers who are the ones passing on counterfeit notes the most. "In most cases, I received counterfeit notes from first time customers. I did not notice because they took advantage of the dim lighting in the cubicles at Sonagachi," she said.

Since most prostitutes are illiterate, they will by taught basic techniques to identify a fake note. For example, in real notes, the print is slightly raised, enabling one to feel it while rubbing the note, while in a fake note, the print cannot be felt.

Also, in a real note, the security thread has he word 'RBI' printed on it, while a fake note does not. Prostitutes were also advised not to accept money in the dark, so they can check the authenticity of the notes by checking for watermarks by holding them against a source of light.

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