Four years ago, a check I had written was stolen out of the mail. The ink for the amount and the payee was “washed out,” then a different payee and amount were written in. Thanks to an immediate phone alert, I was able to call the bank and stop the money from being transferred out of my checking account and into a criminal’s bank account.
I pay most of my bills electronically, but some things still require writing a check. Along with a recent order of checks I placed came a few gel pens. Their ink is supposed to be harder to wash out than other ballpoint pen ink.
But wait. Gel pens are only a partial theft preventive measure. Because all that some criminals need from your check are the routing and account numbers, and your signature.
Fun fact: uni-ball is a Mitsubishi company. I’m about to fire up my 40-year-old Mitsubishi DA-R20 receiver.
We went to a production of ‘Kimberly Akimbo’ recently, and part of the plot involves just such a scheme of stealing checks, washing the ink off, and writing in your own payee and amount. I always used to use a fountain pen for checks, but have gotten lazy in recent years. Also, we are writing a lot fewer checks, as you also note.