Today we have a guest post from Mel C. Martin, President & CEO of First National Bank of Oklahoma :
Even in this age of growing electronic money movement options and acceleration of the speed with which funds are moved, check writing and issuance is still used by many of us. What you may not know is that check fraud instances are increasing. Advances in technology have made it much easier for criminals to accomplish check fraud. Some of the commonly employed check fraud schemes are outlined below along with steps you can take to help hinder the criminals.
If mailing a check, be very selective on where you mail it. The standalone USPS blue mail boxes are often targeted by criminals who use devices to "fish" mail pieces out of the drop slot. Taking your check mail inside a post office or dropping it into another secure and highly visible location, very near the time the location is picked up by the Post Office, is a better approach. Leaving checks in your residential mailbox with the red flag raised is an open invitation to criminals to steal your check mail. Thieves have even brazenly targeted gated residential neighborhood mailboxes for just this purpose.
Once the criminals have your check, they can "wash" the check and change the "pay to the order line" and the dollar amount, leaving the signature intact. Writing in gel ink is a bit harder for the criminals to wash and alter. Your check can also be used to quickly create new, nearly identical checks that contain enough correct information to allow them to be paid off your account at your Bank without suspicion.
If you have an option to pay bills electronically, you might consider that. Recurring ACH setup with utility companies can avoid issuing several checks per month. Same for revolving charge accounts. Most credit card issuers have apps that are secure and easy to navigate, allowing you to easily and quickly set up a payment amount, date you wish to pay, etc. Downloading the app and identifying the bank account you wish to debit will take a few extra steps initially, but in future months, it is literally a few quick steps to issue payment.
If you operate a business, many banks are offering "positive pay" services where the person in your business issuing checks is required to send a file to the Bank detailing each check they have issued that is approved for payment. All checks that are presented against the business checking account are matched against the file received from the business. The only checks that will be paid are those that were included in the file sent to the Bank.
One of the best steps you can commit to is regularly reviewing your bank account activity. This can be done through most Banks' online banking website or app on a frequent basis during the month. The mailed or electronically delivered monthly bank statements should also be reviewed. The quicker you report any suspicious activity to your Bank, the better chance, by working together, the fraud can be addressed.
Learn more about this and other fraud prevention tips at https://fnbok.bank/resources/fraud-prevention/
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