A lot has been written about what to do if you are a victim of a phishing scam or of credit card fraud. However, you don’t see too much lately about what to do if you are a victim of old fashioned check fraud, which happens when a thief does one of the following things:
*Steals your existing checks and writes drafts against your account
*Alters your checks using a chemical “wash” to change who they are paid out to
*Changes the information on your checking account so that he can take it over
*Creates brand new counterfeit checks with your account information on them
*Creates an entirely new checking account using your name and other personal information
None of these things are hard for a thief to do, and a lot of merchants simply assume that fraudulent checks are legitimate since there is no universal way to check if they are or not – or if they are just too lazy to care.
One of the best ways to see if you are a victim of check fraud is just to keep a close eye on your checking account balance. A fraudulent checking account will not appear on your credit report, since it is not considered a credit account. That makes an identity theft protection plan even more important. Choose one that will monitor your accounts for change of address and check black market websites to see if thieves are buying or selling your account information.
If you suspect you’ve been a victim of checking fraud, take the following actions:
*Report the suspected fraud to the police and keep a copy of the police report.
*Send a copy of the report, not the original, to the institution that tried to draw on the bad check. Make sure you get written confirmation back that you are not being held responsible for the charges.
*Close any checking accounts that have been compromised or that you did not open. Have the bank put a note on your file about why the accounts were closed and instructing personnel not to reopen them.
*Contact the credit bureaus to see if any collections activity has been placed on your report as a result of the fraudulent checks. Contest this action and have it removed.
Once you’ve performed all of these actions, you can open a new checking account with a different number. Make sure you use a very secure password and never leave your checks where they can be accessed by a thief. You may even want to keep them in a fireproof safe in your home.