The bank just called me a moment ago. Seems that one Timothy Mills was trying to cash a $200 check from our account. The problem is that I don’t know who the hell this guy is. So, the lady at the bank called the cops and my husband is there signing an affidavit. Now WE have to go to the trouble of opening a new account, as Mr. Mills proclaims that he BOUGHT our check from somebody.
How the hell did he get our checkbook???
See, this is why I don’t trust anyone. I assume that the unidentified check thief has a whole pad of checks. There is no telling how many of my checks are floating around the greater Memphis area right now.
Let’s all wish for a little bad karma for Mr. Check Ripper-Offer.
My wonderful, forgiving husband actually said that he feels bad that this guy is going to jail. I knew I married him for some reason.
Cheaper too, if, as my bank does, there is a fee charged for each check stopped, and the necessity to renew the check stop at periodic intervals.
Identifying the pad the check in question came from, OTOH, shouldn’t be too difficult; simply obtain the number on the chck in question, and identify which pad of 25 checks this one came from. Ascertaining the fate of the other twenty-four checks could be done through your own, or the bank’s, records.
This just happened to me. Some person or persons unknown got a hold of our debit card number and started charging with it. Fortunately, the bank understood this, put a freeze on the account, located the unauthorized charges, stopped them and gave us a new card. With the exception of charges that were paid prior to my husband’s noticing anything, we weren’t responsible for any charges. It did take a while for everything to settle down, tho.
I saw a report on the news about “check-washing”. It seems they take filled out checks right from your mailbox (when you mail your bill payments for example), copy your signature (with a contraption that lets them trace it, just two pens connected to move in unison) and use a certain chemical solution that lifts the pen ink right off (though not the printed ink on the check). Then they fill out the check again and copy your signature back onto it. Next they go to the bank, and have some illegal immigrant, or some poor schmuck named Timothy Mills cash the check and give them a cut (say $50).
That’s probably what happened to you (hopefully, since that would mean they have no more checks of yours). I’d make sure any bill payments I mailed recently actually arrived. One of them probably never got there.
I always go to the post office to mail my payments, and drop it right in the box. I’d suggest you do so too.