National Bank warns Kazakhstanis over suspicious tenge

Tengrinews.kz — The National Bank has warned Kazakhstanis about products resembling real tenge banknotes being distributed through social media and messengers. The regulator urged people to carefully check cash and pay attention to special inscriptions.
The National Bank said that advertisements offering printed products imitating the national currency have recently been circulating online.
These are banknotes that look similar to real tenge bills but contain special inscriptions, including:

“CELEBRATING TOGETHER!”“NOT A MEANS OF PAYMENT.”


“In connection with the above, it is strongly recommended to pay increased attention to inscriptions when using banknotes and to check them for authenticity,” the statement said.



Which tenge notes are counterfeited most often
According to the National Bank, in the first half of 2026, 57 counterfeit money items were detected in Kazakhstan — 49 banknotes and 8 coins — totaling 259,400 tenge. This is 68.4 percent fewer than in the same period last year, when 96 counterfeits were found.
The denominations most often counterfeited were:

2,000-tenge banknotes — 22 cases;10,000-tenge banknotes — 16 cases;5,000-tenge banknotes — 11 cases.

The remaining cases involved counterfeit coins.
How to tell a counterfeit apart
The National Bank reminded the public that genuine banknotes have several security features that can be identified visually and by touch.
Among the main signs of a counterfeit are:no watermark;

blurred microtext;

the security thread has no color-shifting or dynamic effect;

the security element, or patch, has no three-dimensional or holographic effect.

What to do if you find a suspicious banknote
The regulator urged people not to use suspicious banknotes and to immediately contact law enforcement if they find one.