A Bermudian who took $1,000 out of Bank of Bermuda at the airport was shocked to find out too late that his holiday money was counterfeit.

The man, who wished to remain anonymous, said he had spent about $600 of the US currency while on a recent trip to Toronto but his wife was then challenged in a shop and became upset.

?I am concerned ? this money came out of the bank,? he said. ?I am surprised the bank didn?t do screening.?

He said he offloaded the money at other establishments because he didn?t want to get lumbered with the loss.

However, the Bank of Bermuda said he would have been repaid.

A spokesperson said: ?It is extremely unusual for a counterfeit bill to be distributed through the bank.

?If it happens, we would expect the customer to return it to the bank, both for reimbursement and to enable us, with the authorities, to attempt to track the source.

?In this particular case, as we understand it, the customer apparently chose to use or dispose of the bills, so it is impossible for us to confirm they were indeed counterfeit or, if they were, to alert the authorities here. This is unfortunate.

?All tellers are trained to spot counterfeit bills and the note counters in our vaults are equipped with a counterfeit detection mechanism to report suspect notes. So, the incidence of this happening is very rare.?