Although check usage has declined in the last couple of decades, check fraud has risen sharply, creating a problem for banks and customers trying to pay their bills.
When Pam Berns mailed a few checks to pay bills, she had no idea such a routine task would throw her small publishing business into chaos. One of the checks, which she put in a mailbox on a Lincoln Park street in Chicago, was later stolen and rewritten for $7,200 to someone named Mark Pratt. That drained her business bank account, which meant she couldn’t pay the printer, her monthly payroll taxes or her salespeople. Nearly two months later, Berns, 76, hasn’t recovered the stolen money from her
13 Investigates: How criminals are using mobile banking to steal from your bank account
During the pandemic, millions of people switched to mobile banking. It’s incredibly convenient, but criminals are using it too to drain bank accounts. Author: Bob Segall Updated: 11:27 PM EDT May 20, 2021
INDIANAPOLIS Robb Fine and Harold Wilson have never met, but they have a lot in common.
Both men own small businesses in Indianapolis. Both work long hours to make their companies successful. And both have lost thousands of dollars due to recent check fraud.
“They’re stealing the checks right out of the mailbox,” Wilson said. ”It’s a big deal. The first four checks they stole are about $12,000.”