SPONSORED CONTENT -- (StatePoint) The use of checks may be declining, but check crimes are actually on the rise due to new, creative criminal schemes. Once a check is stolen, it can be altered or signed on your behalf to withdraw money from your account, and there are online marketplaces where criminals will sell stolen checks for other criminals to use for fraud.

Luckily, there are steps you can take to protect yourself:

• Pay Digitally. Reduce the number of checks you send and utilize card or digital payment methods instead. Consider using check fraud prevention services like Positive Pay, if available at your financial institution.

• Go to the Post Office. If you must mail a check, use the secure mailbox inside a USPS facility or hand the envelope over to a postal worker who can mail it for you.

• Follow Up. If you mail a check, confirm with the payee that they received it.

• Monitor Accounts. Set up account alerts and review statements regularly. Most banks will provide an option for an image of each check to be viewable on statements. Cross-reference this image to ensure that the check processed is identical to the one you wrote.

• Report Quickly. Approximately 50% of stolen check images are posted online for sale within eight days of theft. Criminals act fast, and you need to act fast, too, to stop them in their tracks. As soon as you identify an account or payment anomaly, notify your bank to put a stop payment on the check and a freeze on your account. File a police report and submit a separate report with the Federal Trade Commission. Keep a record of all conversations, reports and correspondence in case later problems arise.

Methods of fraud continue to evolve, and a simple check can be used in a variety of ways to commit theft. For instance, criminals can create fraudulent checks using your account information and sign your name. Or they could copy down your account information and use it for fraudulent purposes digitally or otherwise. Mail theft-related check fraud – where a check is stolen while enroute – accounts for hundreds of millions of dollars in attempted theft annually.

Here are some of the most common fraud methods used:

Account Theft. Checks are used to steal account information details to either steal money directly or fraudulently open additional accounts.

Forgery. Criminals have long forged the legitimate signature or altered the payee or amount on a check. However, artificial intelligence (AI) is making it easier than ever to do so with accuracy.

Check Washing. Criminals “wash” a check, using chemicals like acetone or bleach to erase the payee and amount, then rewrite the check to themselves for their amount of choice.

Counterfeits. Criminals create entirely fake checks that look real using stolen account information.

Check Return Schemes. Criminals will send what they claim is a paycheck or other payment by way of a check where they “overpay.” They ask you to deposit it, then return the “extra” money back before it’s discovered that the check is fake.

For more fraud prevention information, visit PNC’s Security and Privacy Center.

Safe handling of checks may not only protect against theft but also defend against more widespread account compromise.

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