The former head of the "Cybercrime" department at the Directorate General of Counterfeiting and Counterfeiting Yavor Kolev made a surprisingly reassuring statement regarding the security of the new currency, just days after the services warned of increased trafficking in counterfeit money. On the air of "Bulgaria ON AIR" he categorically stated that "there are no more counterfeiters in Bulgaria", and the detected counterfeit banknotes are of low quality and imported from countries outside the European Union.
"There are no more counterfeiters in Bulgaria. What we see on the market are very poor quality banknotes, produced outside the EU", said Yavor Kolev, quoted by "Bulgaria ON AIR".
This statement comes against the backdrop of our country's historical reputation as one of the centers for high-quality printing in the shadow sector and just five days after sources from the Ministry of Interior signaled that the market is literally "overflowing" with counterfeit money in connection with the introduction of the euro from January 1, 2026.
According to the expert, panic is unnecessary, since the phenomenon is not widespread. He pointed out the specific places where citizens should be especially vigilant - small retail outlets, casinos and nightclubs.
"Fraud occurs where there is tension, there is a rush. "In the evening hours, when people are tired, they try to sell fake euros," Kolev explained.
The most frequently counterfeited denominations remain those of 50 and 100 euros, which are the most widely circulated. An interesting detail is that the larger denominations (200 and 500 euros) have practically been taken out of use in many commercial establishments in Europe, and also in our country, which makes them unattractive to criminals.
In the spirit of modern trends, Kolev recommended a complete transition to digital payments as universal insurance against fraud.
"We must be calm and careful when working with our data and our money," the expert recommended, directing users to bank cards and mobile wallets.
He also warned of a secondary effect of the currency change - an increase in phishing attacks. Fraudsters are using the chaos and lack of information to send fake messages on behalf of banks and state institutions. Kolev recalled the golden rule: Banks never request confidential information via SMS or email.
Despite the reassuring tone of experts, citizens should have "one thing in mind". Until January 31, when the deadline for dual circulation of lev and euro expires, the risk of encountering a counterfeit remains high, and the responsibility for recognizing it falls entirely on the end user.