LAURINBURG – Police are issuing a warning to Laurinburg residents to be careful with their banking information after a city woman was victimized in a “check washing” scheme.

Check washing involves using chemical solvents to remove information on a check, usually the written information, allowing scammers to make checks out to themselves and change the cash value of the check.

The victim’s routing number was used on a check from another account in Florida allowing the scammers to access the woman’s account, according to Assistant Police Chief Cliff Sessoms.

The check was cashed at a Smith’s Food and Drug Store in Florida.

Sessoms said people can take measures to protect themselves from this type of fraud.

“Make sure you monitor your accounts for suspicious charges, destroy old checks and when you discard old checks, make sure you destroy it to the point you can’t read the routing number,” Sessoms said.

The Identity theft resource center offers the following tips to reduce the risk of becoming a victim to a check washing scheme:

— Do not put outgoing bill [payments] in an unattended or unlocked mailbox. If possible, take outgoing mail to your local post office. It is recommended you not drop your mail after the last pickup of the day.

— Minimize the number of checks you write. Do your bill paying online on a secure computer. This minimizes the possibility of your checks being stolen through the mailing process. It’s your responsibility to know where you are sending your payments online.

— When writing checks, use a gel ink pen, preferably black, so the ink will [penetrate] the fibers of the check.

— Do not leave blank spaces on the payee or amount lines.

— If you have cancelled checks, shred them.

— Review your bank statements immediately. You have a limited time frame in which to report fraudulent transactions. When fraud is detected, it is often necessary to report it within 30 days.

— When possible, have new checks delivered to your bank.

By Beth Lawrence

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Reach Beth Lawrence 910-506-3169