Protect Yourself from Check Washing

Check washing is a form of financial fraud where criminals steal paper checks from the mail and use chemicals to erase the handwritten portions—such as the payee's name and/or the dollar amount.
Once the original ink is removed, the check is left blank but still features the victim's authentic signature. The scammers then write in a new payee name and a potentially much larger amount, cashing it or depositing it before the victim realizes what happened.

How Can You Protect Yourself
Because paper checks pass through multiple hands and locations, protecting yourself requires a mix of smart writing habits and secure mail practices.
1. Smart Writing Habits

• Use the right ink: Always fill out checks using a gel pen with pigmented black ink (such as a Uni-ball Signo, Sharpie S-gel or similar gel pens). The ink in these pens contains micro-particles that permeate the paper fibers, making it incredibly difficult to chemically erase without destroying the check itself. Standard ballpoint pen ink is easily washed away.
• Fill every line: Do not leave blank spaces in the "Pay to the order of" or amount lines. Draw a straight line through any remaining empty space so no one can add extra letters or numbers.
• Go digital: Whenever possible, use secure electronic payment methods, online bill pay, or peer-to-peer payment apps instead of mailing physical checks.

2. Secure Mail Practices

• Don't use your home mailbox for outgoing checks: Avoid leaving checks in your residential mailbox for the mail carrier to pick up, and never raise the red mailbox flag, which signals to thieves that there is mail inside to steal.
• Drop mail off safely: Deposit envelopes containing checks directly inside a US Post Office or hand them to a mail carrier. If using an outdoor USPS blue collection box, do so right before the last scheduled pickup time of the day.
• Monitor your mail: Retrieve your incoming mail daily. If you are expecting a check or sensitive documents and they don't arrive, look into it immediately.

3. Vigilant Account Monitoring

• Check your bank statements frequently: Don't wait for your monthly statement. Review your mobile banking app every few days to verify that cleared checks match the amounts and payees you actually wrote. If the scammer does not change the amount of the check, without verifying the actual payee, you may be unaware of the funds being falsely deposited until it is too late.
• Utilize "Positive Pay": If you run a business, enroll in your bank's Positive Pay service. This system matches the check number, account number, and dollar amount of each check presented for payment against a list you previously provided to the bank.

What to do if you are a victim: If you notice a check has been washed or altered, contact your bank immediately to report the fraud and freeze your account. You should also file a report with the local police and the US Postal Inspection Service (USPIS).
Farmers Pride pens moving forward are now recognized as the ‘pigmented ink pens’ that are more difficult to ‘wash’. Stop into your local Farmers Pride to pick up a new pen today!
Also, utilize our new app, and pay online tools for a safer way to pay your coop bills. Learn more about those options here.