The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-08-22
HOW BANKS ARE
OFTEN SWINDLED
Cashier Is Mark for Sharks
and Frauds
THE RISK IS NOT GREAT
Some of the Devices Used in Defraud-
ing Bank Officials-FelIow Clerks
Are Sometimes Guilty of
Taking Money.
THE RISK IS NOT GREAT

The affable gentleman who hands you
out money in exchange for your check is
the mark of sharks and swlndlers of all
descriptions The possibilities offered by
successful fraud upon him are great
and the risks on the whole are less than
have to be faced in many other fields of
crime.
Dodges innumerable have been worked
Tor his especial benefit, but the very
dangers of his calling make him wary.
and he is not easily had" That favor
lite device of petty thieves, for example
called ringing the changes" which So
OFTEN deceives the shopkeeper seldom
succeeds with him. He has a discomfort
ing habit of completing each payment as
originally asked for, blandly ignoring
any changes in detail until the end.
Thus he makes each transaction COM
plete in itself, and 1t is not easy to con-
fuse him.
Bad money is seldom presented at a
pank' unless nndesignedly, by those who
nave themselves been deceived. 1t is ex-
traordinary how quickly a caahier
can detect one bad coin among a nun,-
Ger OF good ones. The slightest differ
ehee IN appearance size or even weight
Is o1ten sufficient to catch his attention
II Is not because he has had so much ex
periehce with bad coins, but he is so ac
customed to good ones that he is ouicls
IN noticing the difference. Gold COUNTER
let's are usually wrong in the we,gbt
while silver ones have often a s,,s,,ia,
ousiy greasy appearance and ring badly
Fishing With a Pin.
CASHIERS have sometimes to face the
FISK of robbery by fellow officials tbouob
'nese cases are extremely rare. A few
years ago, however, a bank clerk left
suddenly for abroad, under circup,-
stances which his friends endeavored RI
nush up as much as possible He had
peen detected in the act of fishing vita
selihg ana bent pin, bundle of
int. oui Oh cashiers box during the
latter's absence. A long term of i'm
prisonment would have been a fitting re-
"ard Tor this traltorous act but the ham,
Where II occurred paid small | salaries
ana thought 1t advisable to let the Of
lender go rather than face publicity
announcer case was where cashier con-
tinually found himself short after hal
a an, the days transactions. Usually
the dehciency was for small sums II
puzzled him for a long time. but event-
ualy the mystery was solved nv an no.
cloent. A clerk In the office was in tha
hapit or handing him a book to initial
each day. The book was laid on tbe
oesk where usually there were number
o1 loose gold coins lying about. was duly
naIhea ana lifted up again. One day the
cierK' IN taking back the book was NOT
] SO cautious as usual. and the ca.bier
caught the CLINT of coin adhering To
me pack OF it. Struck by this defiance
OF the laws of gravity. he Crashed tho
DOOR, and found on 1t a small piece of
wax, to which the coin was adherr,nc
ana now that clerk is numbered amone
the unemployed is
Old Soldiers Ruse.
Another cashier recently lost ssoo 4,
simple way. Paying out money ranid,,,
10 large number of customers IN
busy day. he found. when the crowd had
iheited away, man whom he had already
paid lingering on. Asked what he want.
co. the man, who was an old soldier
sent TO cash a check by mercantile es
s "a niishment said that he was waiting for
sooo. part of his check. which the cashier
mao not yet given him. The latter was
under the impression that he had COM
pieted the payment, but the old soldier
turned out his bag 1t was NOT there
ana as there was not the slightest douht
OF MS honesty, the cashier paid hin, ont
oiotlier Soo AL night he was $500 short
anu Is now paying it up by instalments
some smart individual in the crowd had
annexed the amount while the old col
der was busy counting the earlier nor
ton of his payment
Forgery Is the terror of the bank casb
Ter for 1t is difficult to detect. and NAV
relieve him of a large sum at one blow
If suspicious check is not paid and
turns out to be genuine, 1t may lose the
bank a good account or even involve II
IN an action at law. Thus It Is EASY TO
Imagine that some awkward transact
lions arise at times But there are de-
vices for meeting most of them.
The Forged Check.
A forged check is usually presented nv
an innocent third party-a messenger A
few skillful questions addressed to him
VIII give much Information upon which
a decision, to pay or not to paw. can
usually be safely based Or some purely
technical reason may be given for not
paying the check, thus getting time and
allowing the drawer to be communicated
with. If the check is presented by a
guilty party, any appearance of delay in
payment, any semblance of keen scrutiny.
renders him uneasy. He makes some ex-
cuse about returning in a few minutes
and hurries off, dreading lest the DELAY
may be due to the bank authorities hay
ing sent for the police; and so the cashier
Is left with worthless piece of paper
and sense of danger escaped.
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