talkmagic.co.uk

I worked in the banking industry and in many departments in one of the 10 largest banks in volume in the USA and I can say that there is a way they can check every check. The problem is there is such pressure put on employee’s that many batches of checks are looked over. If a checked is signed wrong and cashed at a bank then the teller is not doing their job, Tellers can look at every check if they are at a window. If it is done through an ATM machine, a teller usually still does that work, and can be caught at the time of processing. In the case of check fraud there is plenty of blame to go around, from the clerk at the store who accepted the check to the bank that let it slip through their system to the clearing house that sorts checks by bank to the bank the check was written on. In the end as I told my customers the bank does have a responsibility when it comes to bank negligence. But it is YOUR MONEY, your life and you have to be held responsible for it, (fair or not). I can go on in detail about how it all works but I digress. Except that banks have every right to charge when you mess up your account. Banking is a business and when you mess up, the bank takes a loss.

As far as putting a fake signature on the bottom of a check to see if it will go through. Banks keep records of all the checks that it clears. They have a copy and what you are doing is against the law and can be prosecuted. Usually however it is not worth the banks time.

As far as Capitol One is concerned that is not a company I am happy with. However they are very quick with suspicious charges. With Visa however you are not responsible for any funds that are not yours, (with many credit companies you are responsible for the first 50 dollars) Here is the States all credit card companies are getting quick to respond as credit card fraud is ultimately reported to homeland security so credit companies are being forced to become very diligent.

Aside from making sure old returned checks are secured, and your documents are properly shredded for heaven’s sake keep an eye on your credit report. Mess with that and you are looking at possibly years of trouble.