At Kitsap Community Federal Credit Union, like most financial institutions, customers aren't liable for checks they didn't write. They are required to report the fraud within 60 days, compliance security officer Dodie Bullough said. The credit union usually finds out about fraud from the victims, who usually discover it on monthly statements. That makes it critical for customers to balance their checkbooks regularly, Bullough said. Normally, it's just an inconvenience.
Tellers do their best to catch fraudulent transactions at the credit union.
In fact, there have been three arrests at different branches in the past several weeks, Bullough said. But check washing, when the suspect remakes a check the account holder made out to someone else, presents a problem. Even if it's written to a nonmember, we're normally not going to question it. The vast majority of check fraud goes for drug money, Bockelie said. This gives Smith a philosophical outlook on his case.