Paper checks might eventually disappear altogether, but the Wall Street Journal reports that fraudsters are busy capitalizing on them in the meantime. Its exploration of the issue is illustrated in two stats:
- Americans write an average of 30 checks per year, by far the most of any nation. No. 2 is France, with an average of 15.
- Check fraud soared 400% last year. More than 800 US financial institutions reported incidents.
The tactics are less than rocket science. It might involve stealing a check out of someone's mailbox, sometimes changing the amount and recipient's name with household chemicals and depositing it elsewhere. Or fraudsters buy universal keys that open drop boxes by post offices and steal checks from there. Or they buy books of blank checks from illicit online sites. And on and on. One common denominator: "The scams exploit banks' requirements to make customer money available before fully verifying checks," explains the story. The money is long gone by the time the banks realize something is amiss.
Another big factor in the fraud surge is that criminals help each other out on Telegram channels and the like, suggesting which banks are vulnerable to a particular weakness at a particular time. "The criminal side is much better at sharing or exchanging information," says Brett Johnson, a fraudster-turned-FBI-adviser. "That's why the bad guys are winning this game." Read the full story or a conversation with reporters Oyin Adedoyin and Justin Baer. (More check fraud stories.)
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