Police public relations officer Station Sergeant Barry Hunte said yesterday that the latest seizure took place two weeks ago.

He urged the public, especially business persons, to be on the lookout. Although he was unable to say how much counterfeit money was passed off, he said the culprits targeted various places of business.

He said vendors should be on the lookout for these notes which had the same serial number, and appeared to be faded or generated by a computer.

"It is critical that in your haste to get sales generated that you [vendor] scrutinise the money that you receive. You may have identified the Barbados currency but that is not to say that you should not be vigilant as it relates to all forms of monies being tendered.

"United States currency you also need to scrutinise it – be very vigilant and report any suspicious activity or any individual you see passing this type of money constantly to the Fraud Squad or other uniformed officers," Hunte said.

"Because of the events we [police] have noticed in the past and we are seeing again that at this time of the year, with the influx of people and the increase in spending, this trend is repeating itself.

"So we are moving early to sensitise and alert the public... and to seek to nip this challenge in the bud," he explained. Hunte said investigations were ongoing.