Rising check fraud puts credit unions at risk
Here’s a cost-effective response to fraudsters leveraging digital banking and the dark web.
If you don’t think the saying “Everything old is new again” applies to financial fraud, think again. Check fraud is on the rise again. While that might seem like stealing a horse and buggy in the digital age, criminals know when there is money to be made. They’re using modern tools to make old-school fraud work to their advantage.
New digital twists are making check fraud more effective and harmful to credit unions and their members. Here’s what’s happening and what credit unions can do about it.
Digital Convenience, Changes in Liability Compound Fraud Losses
When I was working in check fraud in the late 2000s, it was easier to spot the “tells” of a bad check—but so much has changed.
For all of the upsides of digital banking, it also means a check no longer has to pass through human hands. The physical review of a check was an opportunity to look for telltale signs of fraud, including missing security features—like the signature line, which on most checks is actually microscopic writing that fake checks often fail to replicate—as well as evidence that a check has been washed and rewritten.
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