| Everyone who lives in the United States has been brought up knowing of fraud. It happens every day. There are many types of fraud; identity fraud, check fraud, credit card fraud, the list goes on and on. The most commonly known type is check fraud. All types of fraud are used to get someone cash. All types, believe it or not, are illegal. Of course mass murderers belong in jail more than people who have just ripped off money, but 98 percent of con artists are never punished. Frank Abagnale, a con artist gone to the good side, is in that 2 percent that get sentenced. Frank Abagnale “cashed 2.5 million dollars in forged checks, all before he was 21.” (CMIYC back cover) His story of check forgery has helped him get a job in the FBI. He now helps the government decipher a good check from a fake one. Frank is one of the most sought after experts on protection from fraud and embezzlement. His book, Catch Me if You Can, has led to knowledge of fraud, numerous books, and this research paper. Fraud, by definition, is a deliberate deception in order to obtain something unlawfully or unfairly. Thus, check fraud would be such, only the deception would be through checks. There are many ways to achieve fraud by check. Firstly, a con man could obtain a check written to him, color copy it, and use it many times. He could also scan a type written check into his computer, match the font, rewrite it to himself, and change the amount. Then by simply purchasing a package of check paper, print his check out. If a check is written on a laser printer, its toner becomes easily erased by a number of things, and if it comes to it, commonly known chemicals. If the con man wanted, he could intercept a big company’s check, say Microsoft, and by simply putting tape over the signature and logo, have a free check that’s already signed. Because he picked such a big company, not only does he know the account will have enough funds to cover how ever much he makes his check out for, the company is so rich, they probably wouldn’t notice 100,00 dollars missing from their bank. When left unprotected, any common person can take you to the cleaners, you just might not notice until it’s too late. There are many ways to protect yourself from check fraud. The first is to never keep it simple. When writing a check, always fill in the longest name possible, and when finished, draw a line through the rest of the space. “All [a forger] had to do is change “IRS” to “MRS.” and add Smith to the payee line.” (AofS 38) It’s that simple for anyone to put your IRS payment into their own fake account. In order to really prevent a criminal from taking a check, anyone can buy chemically sensitive paper. This way, if the swindler tries to erase some of the information, something like discoloration, or many images of the word void. This comes in handy because no bank clerk will cash a check that has “void” written all over it. As no plan is ever fool-proof, don’t get cocky, and be ever vigilant. The new American money has many security features to help prevent counterfeit currency. The first is a security thread embedded in the paper. It reads USA20. The second feature is color shifting ink. “Color shifting ink changes color when viewed from different angles.” (AofS 85) The ink looks green at one angle and black when tilted. Other features include an off center portrait, microprinting, federal reserve indicators, fine-line printing patterns, a watermark, and serial numbers. Microprinting is tiny words printed along the outside of the portrait and inside the 20 in the lower left hand corner. All of these features prove very useful because they don’t show up when scanned or color copied. As aforementioned, another type of fraud is credit card fraud. One couple, Robert and Cheryl Cullen, were known as the Bonnie and Clyde of credit card fraud. They achieved hundreds of thousands of dollars through identity theft. “Identity theft is becoming more and more pervasive as government and business increasingly rely on numbers to identify citizens and consumers, and as technology simplifies the collection and dissemination of personal information.” (B&C 2) By taking over someone’s identity, one can become able to write checks and use credit cards as that person. Making as much money as necessary, the Cullens move on to consume another person’s identity. Many people in the USA know what fraud is, but do not believe it could happen to them. However, in a snap of the fingers, your average American can find himself 100,00 dollars out, simply because he didn’t take the proper precautions. If every citizen is informed about the inner workings of forgery and fraud, there would barely be any problem with counterfeit money. All it takes is knowledge to help prevent fraud. Even if the average working individual wouldn’t get bamboozled, cheated, or hoodwinked, it’s always better to be safe than sorry. |
