A BUSINESSMAN is urging people to check their foreign currency after he found counterfeit cash among money he had exchanged.

Steve Wood swapped £310 into €350 at the Money Shop in Foregate Street, Worcester, on Tuesday, November 8, and gave about €220 to his partner, who travelled to Germany the next day where she works as a teacher.

While there, she attempted to buy a train ticket with a €50 note, only to be told it was counterfeit.

Mr Wood, who travels all over Europe working as a packaging engineer, then checked the rest of the currency and found another fake €50 note.

The 58-year-old returned the cash to the Money Shop, where he is a regular customer, but staff would not exchange it because he could not prove it had come from there.

The business has now launched an internal investigation and Mr Wood has also reported the fake money to police.

He urged Worcester News readers to check foreign currency to avoid going through the same experience.

Mr Wood, of Browning Close, Perdiswell, Worcester, said: “I travel a lot. I travel in my job all over Europe and I’m flabbergasted that you can go to a bureau de change and get fake money.

“My partner was made to feel like a criminal. I feel disappointed, but I can’t prove the money came from there.

“If that had been my holiday money I would have been stuck.”

A spokesman for the Money Shop said the company was fully regulated by the Office of Fair Trading.

“We have acknowledged Mr Wood’s complaint and he will be contacted again with a response following an internal investigation,” the spokesman said.

“The Money Shop has stringent policies and procedures in place to protect against the circulation of counterfeit notes. "The company purchases the vast majority of currency notes from the bank as well as buying leftover notes from customers.

“Staff are trained to spot forgeries with the aid of specialist computer software. "This system allows them to verify every note that comes into circulation. "The system also provides a detailed profile of the characteristics of all valid notes in worldwide circulation and identifies what to look for in forged notes.

“Money Shop staff always count the currency purchased in front of the customer so that the customer can verify the amount before leaving the store.”

A police spokesman said West Mercia’s Economic Crime Unit would usually only deal with counterfeit currency if it was large-scale fraud.

They advised anyone who received fake cash to take it to their local police station or into their bank for disposal.