Check Fraud Prevention When You Print Your Own

Printing your own checks does not create new fraud risk so much as move where the risk sits: the blank stock in your office is now worth protecting, while the exposure of your account numbers on every check you issue is unchanged.

Secure the blank stock

Blank check stock has no account details on it, so a stolen sheet is not a stolen check. It is still worth controlling, because it is the raw material for a convincing forgery when combined with your account numbers, which are visible on any check you have ever issued.

• Keep it locked, not in an open supply cupboard.
• Count the remaining stock periodically.
• Shred misprints and voided checks; do not bin them intact.
• Track who has access.

Protect the checks you send

Mail theft is the dominant vector for check fraud in the United States, and the sequence is always the same: intercept, wash, rewrite, deposit.

• Do not leave outgoing checks in a residential mailbox with the flag up. Use a post office or an inside collection box.
• Sign with a gel pen using pigment ink, which resists solvents far better than a ballpoint.
• Fill the amount box and the written line completely, so nothing can be inserted. Software does this automatically.
• Use stock with chemical wash detection — see check security features.
• Prefer ACH or a wire for large payments.

Positive pay, for business accounts

Positive pay is the strongest single control available. You upload the check numbers, amounts and often payees you have issued; the bank matches every presented item against that list and flags anything that does not correspond. A washed check with an altered amount or payee is caught before it clears.

It requires that your issued-check data actually be exported, which is a good reason to keep a proper register rather than a mental note.

Account-level habits

• Turn on transaction alerts for checks above a threshold.
• Reconcile monthly against your register. Gaps in the check number sequence are the earliest warning sign.
• Review cleared check images in online banking occasionally rather than only the amounts.
• Report anything suspicious immediately — the windows for reporting unauthorized items are short and are defined by your account agreement.

What printing does not change

Every check you hand over shows your routing and account number to whoever receives it. That is inherent to the instrument, whether the check came from the bank or your printer. It is the reason the account-level controls above matter more than any feature of the paper.

A short checklist