How to Protect Yourself from Check Washing Scams

For those of us that still make payments and transfer money via paper checks, the risk of fraud is on the rise. Check washing and check cooking are two forms of theft that have seen their popularity increase sharply in the last five years. In fact, check fraud in the United States nearly doubled between 2021 and 2022.

If you do use paper checks (and you send them through the mail), it's important to understand these schemes and learn how to protect yourself from becoming a victim.

What is check washing?

Check washing is pretty close to what it sounds like. Scammers start by stealing your signed check. They may get them from a personal mailbox, a USPS collection box, or some other waypoint between you and the check's intended recipient.

Next they "wash" the stolen check with a chemical like acetone to remove the ink from the "pay to the order of" and "payment amount" sections. Now they've got what is essentially a signed blank check. The scammers write in a new recipient and dollar amount, and then cash the check.

Through this process the $50 check you wrote to your nephew for their birthday can become a $5,000 check that gets cashed in a scammer's name.

What is check cooking?

Check cooking is the slightly more sophisticated evolution of check washing. In many ways it's similar to counterfeiting money.

While check cooking also starts by stealing someone's signed check, in this scheme scammers use photo-editing software to alter the payee and the amount of the check. Worse, because it's a digital copy, the scammer may be able to create multiple fake checks. This way the scammer may be able to bleed out your account gradually through a large number of smaller cashed checks.

How can you protect yourself from check fraud schemes?

Luckily, there are a lot of ways you can reduce your potential risk from a check fraud scheme.

Go paperless. If you're still using checks in 2026, that may be because it's convenient or you simply prefer using them. So it may not be an easy thing to move away from using paper checks, but going digital is much safer for you and your money. Use online bill paying methods whenever possible to safeguard your bank account information.

Use a secure mailbox. Putting your signed checks in your mailbox and waiting for the postal worker to come and pick them up for you is convenient, but it's not very safe. Even dropping those checks in a street-side collection box comes with a fair amount of risk. The safest option is to drop your sensitive mail off directly inside the post office.

Use gel pens. Black gel ink is considered harder to "wash" off than other types of ink. This shouldn't be your only line of defense, though. 

Review bank statements and cleared check images. Keeping a close eye on your banking activity may not prevent check fraud from happening, but it can help respond quickly, minimizing the potential damage.

What should you do if you're a victim of check fraud?

As with any kind of fraud or theft, the sooner you uncover the issue and the sooner you take action, the better the possible outcomes. That means keeping a close eye on your bank activity. If you don't already, you may want to enable any alerts or notices that your bank can provide.

Talk to your bank. Let them know about the fraud ASAP and have them secure your account, stopping any fraudulent payments in the process.

Report the fraud. You can file a report with the local police and the United States Postal Inspection Service. You can also file a complaint with the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov.

Contact the payee. Make sure the intended recipient of the check is aware of what happened.

Monitor your accounts and credit reports closely. One instance of fraud may not be the end of things. Keep a close eye on your accounts and personal information to make sure your identity isn't stolen or additional frauds are perpetrated in your name. You may also want to alert the credit bureaus and freeze your account to prevent further fraud from happening.

Lastly, if you need help rebuilding your finances after fraud, MMI offers free financial counseling 24/7, online and over the phone. Our experts can help you review your situation, refer you to valuable resources, and get you set up on an affordable debt relief solution.