Check Fraud: What It Is and How To Protect Yourself

While threat actors are constantly looking for ways to compromise payment cards online, your checkbook is still in their crosshairs.

This guide will explain how check fraud works, and how you can protect yourself from falling victim.

What is Check Fraud?

Check fraud can occur in a number of different ways. Scammers could steal a check from an individual and fill it out to make unauthorized transactions.

Another method involves a tactic known as check washing. This is when scammers alter, or “wash,” a legitimate check with chemicals to erase the ink and rewrite the amount and who will receive the payment. There is another variation of check fraud that involves checks sent to an unsuspecting target that we will cover later in this webinar.

How Do Threat Actors Get My Checks?

One of the most common places scammers will look for checks to steal is the mailbox. Bad actors will look for any item of mail that may contain a check and may take them right from the mailbox, or when they are in transit. Of course, scammers will take checks if they are left in a car or anywhere out in the open.

How Can I Protect Myself?

• Keep your checks in a secure location
• Mail checks in a secure mailboxes or directly at the post office
• Never leave a check in your mailbox overnight
• Use other forms of payment if possible. Avoid using debit cards
• After using a check, review your accounts to ensure the correct amount has been withdrawn
• Confirm that the check was received with the intended recipient
• To combat check washing, use black gel ink pens when filling out checks. Black gel ink is highly resistant to check washing. This is a simple measure to take to avoid the much more elaborate form of check fraud

Another Form of Check Fraud

In some cases, check fraud can take a different direction. Scammers may send checks in the mail, claiming they won a prize, or they hired you for a job. Either way, they will ask you to deposit the check and send a small fee to a third-party, allegedly allowing you to keep the rest as payment.

Unfortunately, once the bank discovers that the check is bad, all the money will be taken away, and you will lose any money you sent. The bank will not reimburse you for the money you send either. That’s why the best course of action to take if a check mysteriously appears in your mailbox is to throw it away.

What Should I Do If I Fall Victim

• Contact your financial institution as soon as possible if you believe a check has been stolen or if you lost your checkbook. They can freeze your account and help you going forward
• If you know the number of the lost/stolen check, contact your financial institution to ensure that specific check is not used
• If a fraudulent charge has been made, contact your financial institution to dispute it. Do this as quickly as possible, as the longer you wait to dispute the charge, the harder it'll be to recover the funds
• Report the crime to the FTC and the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center