If they "wash" the ink off the checks, doesn't that also wash off the bank info and the lines? I use permanent ink. I pay bills by check through the mail, and I receive pay for one of my side hustles with checks through the mail.
More fear porn to get people to be all electronic.
Personally I think someone at the post office has to have been involved. There was a rash of them for about 2 months on the NW Side. I had to make police reports and fill out a fraud affidavit. Also, a friend's son wrote a check for around 100 to renew his LLC and someone cashed it for 2400. My secretary wrote a check and mailed to a court reporter for $240 and they cashed it for $9999.00. That was on my business TRUST account which is pretty flush with cash because I need it to be. It took longer to get that money back because it was a business account not personal, and they don't have the same "customer protection" stuff LOL. They sell pens now that you can't "wash" with nail polish I guess.
I have had two check stolen and altered this way. They use nail polish to cover up the dollar amount and then write in a different dollar amount and payee and deposit the check electronically where any oddity may go unnoticed. The accounts I assume are set up online with a fake identity and the money stolen virtually immediately. I tried to get more information from the bank about how this scheme actually works and that's all I know. But it happened to me twice - once on a personal check and again on a business check - and I know several people that got hit here on the NW side of Chicago.
Documents that are printed by laserjet have a plastic dust fused to the paper fibers as their "ink". It is impervious to being removed with alcohol or other solvents. Yes, alcohol even dissolves "permanent" ink like Sharpies. It is used to clean whiteboards when people write on them with Sharpies by mistake.
If they "wash" the ink off the checks, doesn't that also wash off the bank info and the lines? I use permanent ink. I pay bills by check through the mail, and I receive pay for one of my side hustles with checks through the mail.
More fear porn to get people to be all electronic.
Exactly. There is no comparison with the risks associated with "online."
No, I have had it happen to me twice. It's a real thing.
How do the criminals get a hold of the checks? From getting them out of a public mail box?
The number of fraudulent transactions from online activities is off the charts.
Personally I think someone at the post office has to have been involved. There was a rash of them for about 2 months on the NW Side. I had to make police reports and fill out a fraud affidavit. Also, a friend's son wrote a check for around 100 to renew his LLC and someone cashed it for 2400. My secretary wrote a check and mailed to a court reporter for $240 and they cashed it for $9999.00. That was on my business TRUST account which is pretty flush with cash because I need it to be. It took longer to get that money back because it was a business account not personal, and they don't have the same "customer protection" stuff LOL. They sell pens now that you can't "wash" with nail polish I guess.
very good point
I have had two check stolen and altered this way. They use nail polish to cover up the dollar amount and then write in a different dollar amount and payee and deposit the check electronically where any oddity may go unnoticed. The accounts I assume are set up online with a fake identity and the money stolen virtually immediately. I tried to get more information from the bank about how this scheme actually works and that's all I know. But it happened to me twice - once on a personal check and again on a business check - and I know several people that got hit here on the NW side of Chicago.
Documents that are printed by laserjet have a plastic dust fused to the paper fibers as their "ink". It is impervious to being removed with alcohol or other solvents. Yes, alcohol even dissolves "permanent" ink like Sharpies. It is used to clean whiteboards when people write on them with Sharpies by mistake.
An easy way to clean sharpie off a white board is to use a dry erase marker
Wouldn't paper be harder to remove permanent ink from than a slick white board surface? I don't know, just wondering.