Check Scam

You may remember a check scam a few years ago involving checks written with invisible ink. The payee, amount, and signature disappeared a day or so after written and rendered the check worthless.

Well, there's a variation on this theme that's traveled from Colorado to Miami over the last year. Thieves are stealing outbound bill payments from mailboxes, using a solution to dissolve the ink, and change the payee, date, and amount. Because the signature isn't altered, financial institutions have a hard time spotting the fraud.

The thieves steal IDs and go to drive through windows at banks where cameras are less likely to identify them. The scam started in Miami and came to Colorado in recent months, and as you would imagine, it has some retailers and bankers very worried. The chemical used was not disclosed but it was said that most people probably have it in their homes. Any ideas?

[Go Back]