BI Destroys 466,000 Sheets of Counterfeit Money

Bank Indonesia (BI) and the Indonesian National Police have destroyed more than 466,000 sheets of counterfeit money collected over the period from 2017 to 2025. BI revealed that the number of counterfeit notes found in Indonesian society has shown a declining trend. “The counterfeit money destroyed today totals 466,535 sheets. This is an accumulation over five years from reports by the public, banks, rupiah processing service providers (PJPUR), and results from processing bank deposits to BI nationwide,” stated BI Deputy Governor Ricky P Gozali during a press conference on the Destruction of Counterfeit Rupiah from BI Verification at the BI Complex in Jakarta on Wednesday (13/5/2026). The destruction of hundreds of thousands of counterfeit sheets is mandated by Law No. 7 of 2011 on Currency. The destruction was carried out using a shredding machine to produce paper scraps. On that occasion, Ricky noted that the amount of counterfeit money circulating in society has decreased. “The number of counterfeit rupiah detections shows a declining trend, from 5 ppm (pieces per million) or 5 sheets per 1 million circulating notes in 2023 to 4 ppm in 2024–2025, and continuing to decline to 1 ppm in April 2026,” he explained. Ricky stated that this achievement is inseparable from close synergy and coordination with various stakeholders. According to him, reasons for the declining trend in counterfeit rupiah include the difficulty of manipulating rupiah notes with increasingly sophisticated technology. “Of course, strengthening the quality of rupiah notes in terms of materials, printing technology, and increasingly modern security features. Thus, they are easier to recognise and harder to counterfeit,” he revealed. He added that the improved quality of rupiah notes is acknowledged worldwide. This is reflected in the award for the 2022 emission rupiah series as the best note series. The award was the Best New Banknote Series at the International Association of Currency Affairs (IACA) Currency Award in 2023. Not only that, the Rp 50,000 paper note from the 2022 emission also received second place as the world’s most secure and hardest-to-counterfeit denomination. It was named the World’s Most Secure Currency in 2024. On the other hand, Ricky noted that based on research into counterfeit findings, the quality of counterfeits produced so far is relatively very low. BI advises the public to be more vigilant in preventing the circulation of counterfeit rupiah through the 3D method: look, feel, and tilt.