What preventative measures do you take to protect your business from cheque fraud? You might not think that this is something you need to worry about as cheques are being used less and less often. While it is true that fewer people are using cheques on a regular basis, they are still used, and cheque fraud is still a potential problem for you and your business, regardless of the size of your business. Why risk it? Cheque fraud is a serious problem and it could be affecting your business. You need to protect your business and avoid unnecessary losses.
What is cheque fraud?
There are a few different types of cheque fraud that you need to be aware of. Cheques could be stolen and used by someone else, counterfeit cheques could be created, or someone could change the payee name or the dollar value on a “good” cheque.
Forgery
Criminals steal a cheque, endorse it, and use it to pay for something at a retail location or they take it to the bank to withdraw cash.
Counterfeiting
This refers to the creation of a fraudulent cheque. Advances in technology are making it easier for criminals to create and print counterfeit cheques. Counterfeiting also refers to the duplication of a cheque.
Alteration
Chemicals are used to remove or modify the information on a cheque. Criminals may change the name of the payee or the dollar amount using spot alteration. If all of the information is erased from the cheque, it is called cheque washing.
How can you protect your business against cheque fraud?
You need to be aware of how prevalent this type of fraud is. The most important thing you need to do to protect your business from fraud is understanding and acknowledging this. You need to be vigilant when it comes to accepting cheques.
Obviously you don't want to stop accepting cheques altogether. You would be inconveniencing your customers who do prefer to pay with cheques and you would wind up losing out on a number of sales. Instead, consider investing in cheque imaging solutions. This will assist in being able to detect potentially fraudulent cheques quickly and easily, without inconveniencing any of your customers.
While they are less common today, cheque payments are still a preferred method of payment for some customers. Rather than alienate and inconvenience your customers who prefer to use cheques, introduce a cheque imaging solution to assist in effectively and efficiently detecting fraudulent cheques. This will save you time and money, improve customer service, and reduce/eliminate the risk of fraud.
You need to acknowledge that your business is vulnerable to fraud. It is your responsibility to take these precautions to minimize the risk of cheque fraud in your business. It's not worth the risk. Invest in a cheque imaging solution to aid in the detection of counterfeit cheques and avoid losses.
