Did you know that the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) regulations place responsibility for forgery losses partially on bank customers, rather than solely on banks? You can also incur significant expenses and lost time investigating the crime, not to mention damage to your credibility and reputation.

To significantly minimize the risk, try using a two-prong approach. First, it is critical that you implement careful procedures related to check processing, and second, you should purchase checks with well-implemented security features, which are difficult to counterfeit or alter.

Check processing tips:

• Reconcile your bank statements promptly. Now that statements are available online, you can do this as frequently as you feel is necessary.
• Restrict access to your checkbook/check stock. Ensure that only trusted staff who need access have it.
• Audit your checks. Do this even though it can be difficult, as checks are often removed from the bottom or middle of the book or stack.
• Choose a custom design. If you can't afford to do this, the next best thing is to ensure that your check supplier uses comprehensive security features.
• Alert bank officials. Advise your bank branches' officials of the security features in your checks in person or in writing (and keep a copy of the letter on file).
• Don't restrict yourself to one account. If you issue a large number of checks, particularly with a low dollar amount (e.g., rebate checks), open a separate account and alert the bank staff of an upper limit for that account.

Check security features:

Detect and prevent tampering. A common approach to fraud is to alter the amount or other information on the check by erasing or using various chemicals. Some inks used on backgrounds and some papers react to these chemicals by disappearing, fading, or staining in a very obvious way; these are the ones you want in your checks' composition. In addition, laser printer toner is notoriously easy to remove. Some check papers, however, are treated so that toner fuses much better to the paper.

Beat inkjet printers and color copiers. The most recent wave of fraud was brought on by new technology used in inkjet printers and color copiers. They do such a good job that security features beyond these machines' abilities needed to be developed. These include:

• Thermochromic ink, which changes color when you rub or breathe on it, and reappears when you stop. This color change characteristic cannot be reproduced using inkjet printers or color copiers.
• Fluorescence, which printers and copiers cannot reproduce. Secure checks may include some printing using fluorescent ink, and/or have fluorescent fibers woven into the paper. While some banks have UV lights, which can be used to detect that checks do not glow, many banks do not, nor do tellers typically look for this.
• Visible fibers, which cannot be created by a printer or a copier. A close examination of a printed or copied check will reveal that the fibers are not real.
• Watermarks, which, depending on the type, can be viewed from one or both sides of the form when held up to light at a 45 degree angle. This is something that cannot be printed, photocopied, or scanned and is very difficult to duplicate.
• Void pantographs, a special way of printing a message in the background that is not obvious to the naked eye. Because of the resolution used on many copiers, this printed message becomes very obvious when copied.
• Microprinting, a technique in which signature lines or borders are printed using such tiny text that they look like lines, but magnified you can see the text. Current copiers cannot reproduce it.

Make use of warnings:

• A message such as "The face of this check is blue and contains the security features listed on the back" is very effective.
• A padlock symbol indicates that your check contains the minimum set of security features standardized by the Financial Stationers Association.
• An "MP" symbol indicates that elements of the check have been microprinted.

The bottom line is, don't take unnecessary chances. The more security you have through procedures and choice of check form, the less likely it is that someone will tamper with your checks.