New Kind of Check Fraud Makes It Easy
All a criminal needs is your account number and bank routing number — information printed on every single check you write — to take you for all the money in your checking account, according to this MSNBC article. I read the article last night, and passed it around to some of my coworkers at the college today since the spotlight victim was a California non-profit. Urban Age Institute thought that they were getting a surprise $1,000 donation, but they ended up getting taken for $10,000 in fraudulent checks.
Even if you don’t work for a non-profit organization, the article is worth reading for your own personal financial safety. Nothing about this particular kind of fraud makes individuals any less vulnerable than organizations and companies.
The scam hinges on a special kind of check called a demand draft, which doesn’t require a signature to be cashed or deposited. New regulations are in the works to make this kind of fraud more difficult, but it will probably be months at least before they can be in place.
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