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Home >> Checks/Money Orders
Fraudulent Checks with My Account Number
I was looking over my checking statement online and noticed four or five debits that I did not make. Upon further investigation, I printed a copy of the cancelled checks and found that the checks that went through had my account number on them, but not my name. What is the responsibility of the bank to make sure that my account number matches my name? How can a bank clear a check that doesn't even have my name on it? Obviously, someone had fraudulent checks made with my account number on them and used several of them. Should it be the responsibility of the bank to insure that the account number and the name of the account owner matches before they clear the check? I went to the bank and had my account cancelled and they opened a new account for me. What else can I do to protect myself and should the bank recredit my account for these fraudulent checks?
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 Most banks don't actually look at every check that is presented to them for payment. In fact, it's no secret that the encoding on the bottom of checks allows banks to automate check processing to the point where the rest of the check, including the name printed at the top, doesn't matter unless something goes wrong. That your bank doesn't check your checks before they pay them doesn't mean the bank isn't responsible for paying fraudulent checks.
As for how to handle the problem, you and the bank did the right thing by setting up another account. There are two more things you have a right to demand from the bank: (1) a refund for the fraudulent checks charged to your account and any fees resulting from the payment of those checks, and (2) an assurance that the bank will not pay any checks that are presented with the old account number. If you have any outstanding checks on the old account that you wrote, you can give the bank permission to pay them, even to charge them to the new account, but insist that all other checks are returned as fraudulent.
Published on BankingQuestions.com 1/14/09
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