FBI Says Writing Checks is Basically Not Safe

That is a bit of an over statement, but basically true.

You may remember the movie Catch Me If You Can where the star, Frank Abagnale played by actor Leonardo DiCaprio, led police on a chase that covered the globe and went on for years. Abagnale later became a police consultant in exchange for a reduced sentence.

But now, the FBI says, check washing, where the name of the payee and sometimes also the amount are washed off and new name and amount inserted has seen a resurgence.

For consumers, it is likely safer to pay online using one of a variety of online solutions than paying by check. If you have to mail a check, deposit the envelope in the post office itself.

While check washing victims usually, EVENTUALLY, get their money back, it could take weeks to months.

For businesses, the problem is more difficult because the laws that protect consumers from fraud do not apply to businesses. On the other hand, there are tools that businesses can use to protect themselves, but they are not free and require effort to implement them.

Today’s check fraud operations are not done by kids in their parent’s basements. These are large scale, skilled and organized operations.

This includes having people hired by the postal service and those people being trained how to spot and steal checks undetected. These operations also include “walkers” – people with fake IDs trained to walk into banks and cash these checks.

One single case in California last year netted nearly 60 arrests, $5 million in fraud and 750 victims.

If You need help replacing paper checks in your business, please contact us.

Credit: 9News Denver

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