Outsmart Scammers: Essential Check Safety Tips

As your trusted financial partner, Tri Counties Bank is committed to your safety. Below are important guidelines for using checks securely and helping you to stay one step ahead of fraudsters.

Check Safety

Crafty scammers are eyeing your written checks. They’ve even been known to steal checks from mailboxes. Using devious techniques, they can erase and rewrite checks to themselves for bigger amounts. They may also steal your personal info, such as name, address and bank account number, and create counterfeit checks.

Reduce your risk of check fraud:

• Use a permanent black gel pen to make the information harder to erase.
• Complete the payee and dollar amount fields entirely or draw a line to the end.
• A consistent signature will make it harder for fraudsters to fake your identity.
• Don’t use free-standing USPS receptacle boxes; mail your check from inside the post office.
• Keep a watchful eye on your account activity to ensure payees and amounts align with what you wrote.

As an alternative, use Bill Pay within your Tri Counties Bank Mobile or Online Banking to send payments securely.

If you’re a business account holder, Positive Pay provides powerful tools to help you detect and reduce your risk of check and ACH fraud.

Prior to sending a check or initiating a payment, always remember to pause and verify.

1. Pause Before Paying: Don't rush into making payments. Take time to assess the situation and consider its legitimacy.
2. Verify: Double-check the recipient's info and validate all unsolicited payment requests by calling a trusted number to confirm.