Beware of Check Washing Schemes

Tuesday, January 30th, 2024 -- 8:01 AM

(InvestigateTV) Nasdaq quoted the BBB as claiming $815 million is lost each year due to check washing schemes.

According to InvestigateTV, check washing occurs when someone intercepts mail and uses household chemicals to “wash off” the existing ink and replace it with their own, often changing the payee and amount of the check.

Michael Joyce with the financial firm Agili said he’s seen this scam a lot lately. ‘You want to do really some simple things like make sure you’re not putting your mail in the mailbox with the flag up,” Joyce said. “Or even we’ve seen people steal checks from deposit boxes directly in front of bank branches.”

Joyce said one simple thing consumers can do is fill out all their checks using a gel pen. Gel pens are designed with pigments suspended in a water-based gel. That makes their ink resistant to most chemicals.

Agili said people can also use checks pre-printed with security features such as a watermark, microprinting, or the use of special inks. The BBB has a guide on how to protect against check washing scams.

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