Wrote a check today to someone and now am a bit suspicious about them.  It was a door-to-door salesperson, check wasn't for a lot, however now they have my check, routing number, account number, etc.

I am with USAA and I assume that I can call them and tell them to be on the lookout for fraudulent charges.  It got me to wondering - with people writing checks all the time, which contain a lot of info on them, just what can someone do with that infor and will your bank not hold you liable for checks or withdrawals you didn't authorize?

I had no idea people still wrote checks

Door to door salesman.....................don't tell me he was selling magazine subscriptions to put himself thru college. Or worse, Grade "A" leftover meat....

I have a password set up for ANY transactions at my CU, no password, no $$$$$$$$$$$. As far as checks go, about the most they may be able to do is change the amount so X fer all but enough to cover it and $20.00 out of the account until it clears.

1. Don't buy from door to door salesmen, ask for their permit from your muni, city or county.

still the best option for a lot of things. My car finance company charges 3% to pay by card and is to out of the way to drop cash off. Child support, checks are proof that it's been paid (at least here) same with some bills.

I think I'll just call USAA tomorrow and tell them to be on the lookout for suspicious activity.  I write VERY few checks, do everything electronically or by credit card 99% of the time.  The number of paper checks I actually write is about 12 a year, if that.

Some merchants accept electronic checks in which you call in an order and supply your checking account and routing numbers as payment. The check is then electronically processed. I would think that if a criminal had that information then he could drain your account  but you wouldn't be liable (although you'd have to write a bunch of letters to the bank to clear it up.)

As a general rule, door to door salesmen get an automatic GTFO, no matter what they are selling.

My wife and I keep separate checking accounts. I was able to transfer money out of her account online using the numbers on her check. I was not a joint owner of the account. I was not asked any security questions.

Try it. It's scary easy.


I did it with her knowing about it. She was never contacted by the bank about the transfer.

I never buy stuff form door to door guys.

As a general rule if i dont trust them i dont deal with them.

Or in true Arfcom fashion a FULL MAG DUMP in their general direction.

Hey, my niece did that for awhile.  How dare you?



Of course, she was a POS thief.  Now she's a POS mom on the dole.  Ain't life grand?



 

They can clear your bank account, any cards in your name, and steal your identity.

From what I saw on tv they can alter the check with some nail polish remover.

Put tape over the signature.
soak check in nail polish remover. this removes the ink.
write in whatever amount you want.

I don't write checks after I saw the tv special. You need to make sure you use the right kind of pen- some kind of gel ink pen.

About fifteen years ago somebody wrote and cashed a $1,000 check against my checking account, using a bogus photo ID.

After subjecting me to twenty questions, the bank reimbursed me for it.

I suspect, although I do not know for certain, that the perp was (either directly or indirectly) one of the two guys that I had hired a few months earlier to do some bathroom tile installation work for me - that was the only non-routine payment by check that I can recall having made around that timeframe.

My guess is that there must be (or at least must have been) a huge organized effort by low-life criminals to defraud banks and/or checking account holders in that fashion. I've wondered whether the perp was freelancing and simply bought a bogus credit union ID from a forger, or whether there was a deal where they split the money with the forger in return for the bogus ID.

Either way, I'm more careful about paying for stuff with a check now... (but still, there could be part-time criminals working for smaller businesses such as oil companies, plumbers, contractors, and the like who might have access to personal checks sent in the mail to pay those bills, and who might get "finder's fees" from organized criminal enterprises in return for photocopying a few checks now and then - there are a lot of scumbags out there)

They can erase the amount with Trichlorothane and cash it for more.  





 

My numbers are down to about a third of what I used to write, but I still pay about 5-6 bills a month with checks.
Just paid for groceries at the store with a check. I used to go through a couple of books a month; now it takes a couple of months to go through a book.

I've always understood that with your account and routing numbers off the bottom of the check that they can do a lot of damage if they chose to do so.

People can take the information off of your check and order legitimate (well, real and actual anyway) checks in their name with your account information and starting writing checks against your checking account.

There is very little they can do with your check, beyond changing the numbers on it and it would be hard to get it cashed that way as it would show.

I also seldom use checks except for paying my rent and the rare bill that I cannot pay online.  I have had too much trouble with the post office losing my bills over the years to trust them too much with my payments.  I am nearing 100% on being able to pay all my bills online.  Credit card, insurance companies, trash company, cell phone, electricity, Harley parts, Amazon, Ebay items, you name it, I do it electronically.