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RatesWhat is the Check Washing Scam?
Hear from Levo Credit Union®'s fraud specialist, Gabriel J., as he explains check washing, tips to prevent it, and what to do if you believe you are a victim of this scam.
In 2025, over $34 billion in check fraud occurred in the Americas, with nearly $1 billion related to check washing. Levo has caught several instances of check washing over the past couple of years, saving members thousands of dollars from fraudsters. Check washing occurs at financial institutions across our region.
What is Check Washing?
Check washing is when a fraudster takes a legitimate check someone wrote and washes the check to change who it is made out to or the dollar amount.
After washing the check, the scammer will try to present it to a different financial institution or to the one from which it originated, hoping to cash it and steal the funds. Check washing can be identified when the victim reviews their statement and notices the check was made out to someone else or for a different dollar amount.
Tips to Prevent Check Washing:
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Choose your pen carefully. Use a black gel ink pen when writing checks. Its ink is more difficult to remove, which can make altered checks easier to detect.
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Mail checks securely. Whenever possible, take them directly to the post office. If you use your mailbox or a blue USPS collection box, deposit the check as close as possible to the scheduled pickup time. Reducing the time a check sits unattended can make it less vulnerable to theft and check washing.
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Review your statements regularly. Compare each statement with the checks you’ve written, verifying the amount and recipient for every transaction. Watch for checks that remain outstanding longer than expected. If a check hasn’t been cashed, contact the intended recipient to confirm they received it. If they did not, contact your financial institution promptly to discuss placing a stop payment and protecting the funds.
Levo Credit Union® members can use Account Alerts to receive notifications when their account balance changes, including when a check is cashed.
What to Do If You Think Your Check Was Washed?
If you were reviewing your statements and notice a check that seems unfamiliar, the first step is to contact your financial institution. They can help you investigate and get an image of the check to review. Your financial institution can also help you navigate the next steps, depending on your situation, such as filing a police report or changing account information, if necessary.
If you’re a Levo member and suspect you’ve recently been affected by fraud, contact our Service Center at 605-334-2471 or toll-free at 1-800-568-5711.
Learn More About Other Common Scams
Video Transcript:
(0:01) What check washing (0:06) is, is, the act of taking a legitimate check, so one that you wrote, (0:11) but then a fraudster somehow gets their hand on it. They then use that check, that you (0:13) wrote, and they wash (0:16) out the ink of who it's made out to. Sometimes they wash out the dollar amount (0:21) as well, and they change those to. made out to the fraudster, to a business that they operate (0:24) or something like that. They can change the dollar (0:31) amount as well. So what that looks like is once they then get that check, they wash it out. (0:32) They hope to make it still (0:33) look legitimate, and then (0:40) they want to bring it over to another financial institution or with the financial institution that it was drawn off (0:41) of. Hopefully, they cash that (0:47) check, and then they run off with the money.
Then eventually you re- you view your statement. You see that, (0:52) hey, you know, I wrote this check out to my insurance company or whoever, or for a different dollar amount. (0:54) Then you go and investigate, (0:59) you get the check image, and you realize that it was made out to a different person.
Now, (1:03) once it gets to that point, usually for your financial institution is able to help, but there are a couple (1:08) different things that you can do to actually just prevent it from happening in the first place. (1:12) The first is when you're writing out that check, what you can do is you wanna make sure that whenever (1:16) you write the check, you wanna use a black gel ink pen. (1:19) It's a little bit harder to wash because if you have to work really hard to wash out (1:24) that ink, then it's gonna look like it's washed, and hopefully that financial institution won't accept (1:29) it.
Another thing is instead of just putting your check in the mail overnight, it's not very safe. (1:31) It's very easy to go into that mailbox (1:36) and just take from it. Instead, either put it in your mailbox right before the mail person comes (1:40) or go and drop it off at the post office or one of those blue boxes. (1:44) If you're doing the blue boxes, well, again, if you know when they come and check it, put it (1:47) in right before. It gives fraudsters less opportunity to actually wash that (1:50) check.
But if you find (1:52) that a check that you writ- (1:52) wrote was (1:57) washed or you suspect it is, go and talk to your financial institution. They should be able to pull up (2:01) images of it. Or if it hasn't been cashed yet, but the place you mailed it to says they haven't (2:05) got it, you can put out a stop payment for it to make sure that the fraudster, doesn't actually get (2:06) access (2:06) to those funds.
