Check Washing: What You Need To Know

If you pay attention to local and state news headlines, you've heard about check washing. The Pennsylvania State Police have previously issued warnings to Pennsylvania residents to beware of criminal activity. If you're an individual or a business that frequently sends checks in the mail, read on to learn how to best safeguard yourself from check washing, as well as what legal recourse you might have.

What is check washing?

In case you're unfamiliar with check washing, it's the act of changing the payee and/or value information of a check and then depositing the funds into an account. The recipient may or may not be intended, and the check can be augmented through a chemical process, or copying or scanning and reprinting. According to the U.S. Postal Inspection Services, more than $1 billion in counterfeit checks and money orders are recovered every year.