Billboard Insider is running a series series on financial scams and your out of home company.  Today we’ll talk about the most common form of financial fraud.

Check Stealing

Billboard Insider recently sat in on a seminar where fraud investigator Frank McKenna said this:”Putting checks in the mail is a very bad idea right now.”  Check stealing is the number one source of financial fraud.  Look at this chart which tracks check fraud reported to the US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.  Check fraud reports have almost quadrupled since 2020.

Many US post office boxes are unlocked so it’s easy to steal checks.  Then during the covid pandemic crooks started robbing post office employees to steal the keys that they use to access locked mailboxes.  They open the boxes, steal the checks and sell them on the dark web for a huge discount.  The check buyer washes it with nail polish, changes the payee and amount and deposits it.  You don’t find out about the fraud until the check has cleared or until the person you originally wrote the check to complains that they haven’t been paid.  What’s the solution?

• Use ACH payments or a credit card to pay small bills or a wire transfer to pay large bills.  Billboard insider uses ACH payments whenever possible.  You can even use positive pay which allows any new or suspicious electronic payments to be called to your attention for additional approval.
• Take your checks directly to the local post office.  This reduces but doesn’t eliminate risk because the checks can still be stolen as they are delivered to your vendor or client.   You should also buy the highest security check available with watermarks, holograms, a complex background and a void pantograph which shows if someone attempts to photocopy the check.  Postive pay is also available from your bank for checks.  You provie you bank a list of checks you’ve issued and the bank verifies every check against the list and flags susplicious items.
• Enourage clients to pay electronically.  Quickbooks allows you to get paid with credit cards, bank transfer or PayPal.  Include these payment options on your invoices.  And use electronic pay options whenever you can.
• Look at your out of home bank account every day or every few days for suspicious activity.  Don’t wait until you get you monthly statements.  It may be too late.

What is your  out of home company doing to prevent check fraud?  Email davewestburg@billboardinsider.com or use the comment form below and we’ll run a followup column.

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