Blog Post

As noted many times both here and in the general media, check fraud persistent and pervasive — and now compounded by fraudsters constructing corona virus-related scams.

Financial institutions should be on high alert for scams and fraud schemes that target the institution itself and/or its customers. It is equally important for financial institutions to evaluate their current check fraud processes and technologies and identify any possible gaps.

This is a fairly typical fraud scheme that many, if not all of us, have encountered within our email inboxes. While we would normally mark the email as “spam,” delete it from our inbox, and move on with our day, there is a reason fraudsters continue to utilize this scam. The emails are sent to a large number of email addresses in hopes to find a less technically savvy individuals.

According to Frank on Fraud, there are 16 main types of check fraud On the surface, check fraud growth defies logic A huge amount of check fraud goes unreported – – up to $1.2 billion in losses per year, in fact FRANK ON FRAUD is a terrific (and entertaining) blog by Frank McKenna, the Co-Founder…

Javelin Strategy & Research has made available their 2020 Identity Fraud Study (available for download here). The data presents a sobering outlook:

The results of Javelin’s 2020 Identity Fraud Survey serve as a wake-up call—one that will force financial institutions, businesses, and the payment industry to reevaluate how identity fraud is managed. Total identity fraud reached $16.9 billion (USD) in 2019, yet the dollar loss is only part of the story. To have a more fulsome understanding of identity fraud a comprehensive evaluation of the drop in number of victims lead to several unsettling findings. Criminals are targeting smaller numbers of victims, while inflicting damage that is more complex to prevent or remediate.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (under the jurisdiction of the US Department of the Treasury) has rolled out an easy-to-use check fraud and forgery resource at HelpWithMyBank.gov that represents a valuable and easily accessible tool for banks and their customers.

In April our post featured “celebrity fraudster” Matt Cox as he described his methods for perpetrating check fraud. He knows of which he speaks; he is the author of the book Shark in the Housing Pool: On the Run With the Secret Service’s Most Wanted (out of 15 Amazon reviews, it has 14 five-star ratings — but let’s remember that the author is a professional fraudster…)

You get a text from Costco offering you stimulus checks or packages because you’re a loyal customer. Great news, right?

The old saying “If it sounds too good to be true, it’s probably not true” comes to mind…

The negative impact of check fraud really hits home when it happens to you, a friend or relative. Unfortunately, as we see in the following drama, you don’t get the Hollywood ending if you’re unprepared.

A former colleague of ours, Eric Oliver, used to work for VSoft and Fiserv…

We’ve detailed various scenarios fraudsters contruct and provided the profiles of a fraudster, but what does check fraud look like from the vantage point of the fraudster?

Matthew Bevan “Matt” Cox is an American former mortgage broker and admitted mortgage fraudster. Cox is also an aspiring author who wrote an unpublished manuscript entitled The Associates, in which the main character — surprise! — traveled the country to perpetrate mortgage fraud.