Check The Facts About Check Fraud

CHECK THE FACTS ABOUT CHECK FRAUD |TechCheckS.net THE US SECRET SERVICE ESTIMATES THE TOLL OF CHECK FRAUD JUST IN THE UNITED STATES IS $5 BILLION A YEAR. The chief of the agency's financial crimes division calls check fraud "the number one way criminals today are attacking our financial systems." "Despite law enforcement's very necessary focus on combating serious and organized financial crime, including terrorist-related activities that remain an ongoing threat - one of the simplest & most prevalent ways to commit financial crime, to steal money, is to commit some form of check fraud." - James Freis, Jr., Director of FinCEN, an agency of the U.S. Department of Treasury Checks remain the payment type most vulnerable to fraud attacks. of affected organizations report that 85% checks were targeted. of organizations that were victims 14% of at least one attempt of check fraud during 2011 suffered a Among organizations financial loss. suffering a financial loss due to payments fraud, $19,200 the typical loss was More than 80% of companies 76% OF BANKS RANKED CHECK FRAUD SECOND AMONG THE TOP FRAUD THREATS THEY FACED IN 2011. surveyed employ best practices such as positive pay and daily reconciliations to mitigate fraud. Loss situations are primarily due to a failure to follow their own fraud policies. Check fraud is the second most 73% OF BANKS REPORTED CHECK FRAUD LOSSES IN 2010, TOTALING APPROXIMATELY common scheme institutions face, placing just behind payment card fraud and ahead of phishing. 893 MILLICN. Attempted check fraud against bank deposit accounts amounted to some $11 billion Survey results showed that in 2010. 70% 80% of B2B payments are still made via check. E ERNST & YOUNG According to a report issued Quality In Everything We Do by the American Banker, an industry bankers magazine, more than 500 million, annually, with losses totaling more than $10 billion estimates of losses from checks are forged check fraud will grow by 2.5% annually in the coming years. NATIONAL CHECK FRAUD CENTER check fraud and counterfeiting are among the fastest-growing problems affecting the nation's financial system, producing estimated annual losses of10 billion and losses continue to rise at an alarming rate annually. "While the exciting and glamorous fraud topics today involve wire fraud, account takeovers, ID theft, and skimming, the results of the Association for Financial Professionals' annual corporate fraud survey remind us that the most fraud vulnerable instrument available today is the paper check." - Richard Oliver, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank, May 2011 760,955 cases 616,469 cases 561,306 cases $1.024 billion $969 billion $677 billion 760,955 cases of check 561,306 cases and $969 616,469 cases and $677 fraud were reported in million in 2005 (2006 ABA million in 2002 (2003 ABA 2008 with actual losses study) study). estimated at $1.024 One in four money center size banks spent more than $20 million each in check fraud-related operating expense (not including actual losses). billion (2009 ABA study) The median expense was about $10 million for money center banks Between $500,000 and $1 million for regional banks $50,000 $250,000 for mid-size banks $5,000 for community banks. Organizations in the United States lose about of their revenue to fraud. 7% of all fraud incidents within a business involve 60% employees. The average fraud scheme goes undetected for 18 months. In a survey of about 500 businesses conducted by Association for Financial Professionals Cited wire transfers Cited consumer debit/credit 5% 12% Said that their 85% Mentioned corporate organization was 20% and commercial cards impacted by 23% fraudulent checks Mentioned ACH debit The number of checks written annually is predicted to rise by 2% - 4% through the year 2020. 1. At the same time, more than I.2 million worthless checks enter the payment system dailų. The imprisonment rate for check fraud is only 2% SOME THINGS YOU CAN DO TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM CHECK FRAUD. Most check fraud starts with the theft of a check. Keep your checks as safe as possible. Review your checking accounts for fraudulent transactions regularly. Setup for your bank to call you when a check is being cashed from your account once it is a certain size. Print your checks instead of writing them. Always write checks with a felt tip pen, never a ballpoint pen. Several manufacturers make pens designed specifically to prevent check washing. Drop bills paid with checks at the post office or in a post office drop point, not in your mailbox. Do not leave blank space in the forms on your checks that someone can alter. Review your credit reports regularly. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act) requires the three major credit bureaus to provide you with one free credit report a year. Use checks that have the latest security features built into them like the checks sold at TechChecks.com. TechChecks.net Source: http://www.stopcheckfraud.com/statistics.html Source: http://www.ckfraud.org/statistics.html Source: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/financialcrimes/checkfraud.htm Source: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2012/032112-fraud-257521.html