| There is an easy way to prevent fraud. One of the | | | | key to preventing this type of fraud is to use |
| most common causes of fraud is called check | | | | pigmented ink pens not dye ink pens. |
| washing. Did you know that a professional thief can | | | | Dye ink simply stains paper fiber and it can be washed |
| remove ink from hand written checks in approximately | | | | or bleached off of a check. Pigmented ink works its |
| three to five minutes? | | | | way into the paper itself, actually embedding itself into |
| Most pens are made with dye ink. This ink can be | | | | the paper and does not just stain the paper. This |
| effectively and easily removed from a hand written | | | | makes the pigmented ink almost impossible to beat |
| check by bleaching or washing a check. The | | | | with many bleaching and washing methods. |
| procedure is not high tech; it is something a child could | | | | How bad could this problem be? |
| do with an acetone based nail polish found in most | | | | In 2006 the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed that |
| homes. | | | | check washing was an eight hundred million dollar |
| It sounds strange, but it is true. | | | | fraud issue in America and projects it to be more than |
| Professional thieves can remove the name of the | | | | double over the next three years. |
| payee and the amount a check is written for while | | | | What can you do? |
| leaving your signature and the rest of the check in its | | | | Use a pen with pigmented ink. At our offices we use |
| original condition. Then the thief simply writes in a new | | | | the Uniball 207. The pen writes well and is affordable |
| name and amount and the check is ready to be | | | | since it costs less than $3.00 a piece. |
| cashed and your money is gone. | | | | Now that's easy and cheap method of fraud |
| This washing method works with most ink pens. The | | | | prevention! |