In Naples, alarm over the fake 20 euro banknote, even the councilor was defrauded: “Almost identical to the real ones”

In Naples there is an alarm for the fake 20 euro banknotes. There are several reports that are coming from different neighborhoods of the city. Banknotes very similar to the real ones, from the color to the consistency, very difficult to recognize, but in reality completely counterfeit. Among the citizens who have paid the price there is also the City Councilor and Lawyer Gennaro Demetrio Paipaiswho decided to file a complaint about what happened.

The episode dates back to the Saturday evening, July 20, 2024as Paipais tells us, who filed a complaint with the police and reported it to the Security Councillor Antonio De Iesu, the Transport Councillor Edoardo Cosenza, and the Commander of the Local Police, Ciro Esposito. Paipais was at Molo Beverello, returning from the islands in the Gulf of Naples, and was headed to Posillipo, when he decided to take a taxi ride. It is not clear at the moment whether it was a an illegal taxi driver. While it is important to point out that the taxi driver could also be an injured party in this affair.

The story of the city councilor

“It was around 8:30 p.m. – says city councilor Paipais, in his reconstruction – I took a taxi to go from Molo Beverello to Via Petrarca. When I arrived at my destination, I paid with 50 euros and he gave me 20 euros in change, which later turned out to be counterfeit”. It is not excluded that the taxi driver could also have been a victim of the scamit is worth repeating, and having received the counterfeit 20 euro in some other way and not having noticed, then unknowingly giving it to a customer. Paipais wanted to shine a spotlight on the phenomenon of the counterfeit 20 euro notes that are circulating these days in the city and that could be detrimental to unsuspecting citizens and tourists. “With the current crisis – comments Paipais – 20 euro is not a negligible amount, which is why this type of scam is even more despicable. I want to warn all citizens to be careful and always check the banknotes and I have also warned the police to intervene with tight controls”.

How to recognize a fake 20 euro banknote

How did the councilor recognize them? “You could see it from the silver rectangle, the paper is also slightly lighter – Paipais continues – So much so that I then went to the adjacent Supermercato Superò to ask if they could verify the banknote with their machines and the banknote turned out to be fake. At that point I formalized the complaint and the report to the institutions, so that full light can be shed on this affair”.