BI Denies New Rp18,000 and Rp1 Million Rupiah Notes
BI denies the new rupiah images. Tempo’s check found the Rp18,000 and Rp1 million notes were never issued and were AI-made.
JAKARTA — The claim that a new rupiah note series, including Rp18,000 and Rp1,000,000 denominations, was circulating online in June 2026 was false. Tempo’s verification found the images shared on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X, and YouTube were AI-generated, not official Bank Indonesia designs.
The fake visuals featured the Garuda Pancasila emblem, the Bank Indonesia logo, and portraits of Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka. At first glance they looked convincing. But BI never announced any new rupiah issuance matching those images.
Bank Indonesia says the notes were never issued
Bank Indonesia said the circulating pictures did not match any legitimate rupiah banknotes it had issued. Through its official Instagram account, the central bank said the design was not listed among authentic rupiah notes.
“The Rp18,000 rupiah you attached is not available, and Bank Indonesia has never issued that denomination,” BI said in a written statement on Monday, June 15, 2026.
BI also told the public to verify rupiah designs through the Rupiah menu on its official website, www.bi.go.id. The site displays security features, official images, and issuance data. That matters because fake visuals often borrow the look of real banknotes and move fast through social feeds.
Fact check results pointed to AI-generated images
Tempo did not stop at BI’s denial. The newsroom ran the images through AI-detection tools and matched them against official information. The result was consistent across the checks: the pictures were digitally created.
For the Rp18,000 version with a Monas background, AI or NOT estimated a 77 percent likelihood that the image was AI-generated. Zhuque AI Detector Assistant went further, rating it at 99.14 percent synthetic. The same detector also flagged the Rp18,000 visual showing Prabowo-Gibran as AI-made.
The version tied to the Free Nutritious Meals program drew similar results. Zhuque AI Detector Assistant rated it 99.8 percent digital fake. Other checks, including Decopay.ai and Undetectable.ai, reinforced the finding, especially because food-themed elements do not belong in standard currency design.
The Rp1 million image was fake too
Another image in circulation showed a Rp1,000,000 note with the faces of Prabowo and Gibran. The verdict did not change. Hive Moderation detected it as 99.9 percent machine-made, with some analysis pointing to Google DeepMind’s Imagen4 model. Gemini rejected the idea that the image came from its own system and said it had been created by an internet user using another generator.
Zhuque AI Detector Assistant also rated the Rp1,000,000 image at 98.26 percent synthetic. Tempo then checked BI’s official information again. There was no announcement of a new denomination, no redenomination, and no release of new banknotes in early June 2026.
If BI were actually issuing a new note, the process would leave a clear paper trail. There would be an official announcement, technical explanation, and public guidance on security features. None of that appeared here.
Why the hoax spread so easily
Fake currency images travel fast because they tap curiosity. A president’s name, a central bank logo, and a strange denomination are enough to make people pause and share. That is the trick.
The hoax also rode on public sensitivity around the rupiah’s movement against foreign currencies between May and mid-June 2026. In that atmosphere, even a fabricated banknote can look like economic commentary at first glance. It is not. It is misinformation dressed up as official money.
Law No. 7/2011 on Currency gives Bank Indonesia authority over the rupiah, from planning and printing to distribution and destruction. So issuing new money is never just a social media post. It goes through an official process, and the public can trace it through BI’s own channels.
For readers, the impact is direct. Fake banknote images can trigger confusion, fuel rumors about redenomination, and make people doubt what money should look like. That is risky in a country where trust in currency design and security features matters every day, from cash transactions in markets to payroll and banking.
If a banknote image looks odd, the safest step is simple: check BI’s website, compare it with the official rupiah design, and look for an announcement from the central bank itself. If the claim only appears in a forwarded post or an anonymous account, it should stop there.
Tempo concluded that the claim about Rp18,000 and Rp1,000,000 rupiah notes is false. The images were AI-generated, and BI has not issued those denominations.
