How to resolve fraudulent checks
Victims of identity theft suffer greatly from the stress and emotional trauma the experience brings. But when it comes to resolving their cases and repairing the damage, progress is made by being assertive, organized, and knowledgeable about their legal rights. Time and accuracy are paramount to every step of this journey. What vary are the best steps to take when resolving specific, distinct ID theft problems.
This article outlines the steps you should take if funds have been fraudulently taken from your account using checks or other “paper” transactions. In general, if an identity thief steals your checks or counterfeits checks for use with your existing bank account, stop payment on all items that may be presented for payment, close the account, and ask your bank to notify Chex Systems, Inc. or the check verification service with which it does business. As a result, retailers are alerted not to accept these checks. While no federal law limits your losses if someone uses your checks with a forged signature, or uses another type of “paper” transaction such as a demand draft, state laws may protect you. Most states hold the bank responsible for losses from such transactions. At the same time, most states require you to maintain reasonable care and control of your account. For example, you may be held responsible for the forgery if you fail to notify the bank in a timely manner that a check was lost or stolen. Contact your bank, or your state banking or consumer protection agency for more information.
You can contact major check verification companies directly for the following:
If the checks are being passed on a new account, contact the bank to close the account. Also contact Chex Systems, Inc., to review your consumer report to make sure that no other bank accounts have been opened in your name. Dispute any bad checks passed in your name with merchants so they don’t start any collection actions against you.
The check verification company may or may not remove the information about the MICR code or the driver’s license/identification number from its database because this information may help prevent the thief from continuing to commit fraud.
This article outlines the steps you should take if funds have been fraudulently taken from your account using checks or other “paper” transactions. In general, if an identity thief steals your checks or counterfeits checks for use with your existing bank account, stop payment on all items that may be presented for payment, close the account, and ask your bank to notify Chex Systems, Inc. or the check verification service with which it does business. As a result, retailers are alerted not to accept these checks. While no federal law limits your losses if someone uses your checks with a forged signature, or uses another type of “paper” transaction such as a demand draft, state laws may protect you. Most states hold the bank responsible for losses from such transactions. At the same time, most states require you to maintain reasonable care and control of your account. For example, you may be held responsible for the forgery if you fail to notify the bank in a timely manner that a check was lost or stolen. Contact your bank, or your state banking or consumer protection agency for more information.
You can contact major check verification companies directly for the following:
- To request that they notify retailers who use their databases not to accept your checks, call TeleCheck at 1-800-710-9898 or 1-800-927-0188, or Certegy, Inc. (previously Equifax Check Systems) at 1-800-437-5120.
- To find out if the identity thief has been passing bad checks in your name, call SCAN at 1-800-262-7771.
If the checks are being passed on a new account, contact the bank to close the account. Also contact Chex Systems, Inc., to review your consumer report to make sure that no other bank accounts have been opened in your name. Dispute any bad checks passed in your name with merchants so they don’t start any collection actions against you.
The check verification company may or may not remove the information about the MICR code or the driver’s license/identification number from its database because this information may help prevent the thief from continuing to commit fraud.
