The Facts About Forged Checks

Sometimes purse snatchers and pick-pockets are not so interested in the cash money their victims may have but the identity or banking information that may be in a wallet or purse. When someone's wallet gets stolen or goes missing, it is very important to cancel all credit and/or debit cards and notify the bank of missing checks. Usually, people are very quick to cancel their credit and debit cards but forget to notify the bank about the missing checks that could potentially be forged to make illegal withdrawals from a person's bank account. A stolen check may be used to create an unwarranted personal check written out to the perpetrator. This is the most basic form of check forgery. Most banks take extra time to allow a personal check to clear. During this time, banks search for any indication that a check may be a forgery. Personal checks take longer to clear than payroll checks for this reason. However, check forgery does not only happen as a result of people stealing a person's checkbook. Check forgery has strong connections to identity theft. Many identity thieves form elaborate criminal networks with bank employees or use Internet-based personal information gathering tactics. The most valuable information an identity thief needs to make a fake check is someone's social security number. Most bank account databases are arranged according to social security numbers. After someone's personal bank account information is displayed on a check forger's computer screen, they may use sophisticated computer programs and printers to print out replicas of checks with an account holder's name on it. The check may then be used to make unlawful withdrawals from a person's bank account. This form of check forgery targets both people with large bank holdings or people with small bank accounts. It does not matter what the size of someone's bank account may be. If personal information is put into the wrong hands, it may result in this form of check forgery. Another check forgery tactic implemented by criminals is the false endorsement of a check. This is done by people who pose as the person written on the check. These persons usually carry a fake identification card and forge a person's signature to cash a check. False endorsement check forgery also involves people who deposit checks for the person written on the check. They make no claims of being the person written on the check but claim that they were sent to the bank for the purpose of cashing or depositing a check. These criminals will take a payroll check, deposit it legitimately into the person's account, and later make a fake check in their name to transfer the funds to the criminal's account. Person's who commit check forgery are extremely duplicitous people who often hold multiple accounts under different pseudonyms and identities. They use a multitude of different identities to conceal their identity from law enforcement. When they are eventually caught, they are brought to justice according to the severity of the crime. Often check forgers get serious charges because it is seldom that a person is guilty of only one count of check forgery. Their criminally deceptive practices are multi-layered and could easily constitute multiple charges of forgery.