Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1915-05-13
Why Not Stop
The Check Raiser?

es all borne by signers of checks.
Banks not responsible for raised
amounts. Only one method of pro-
lection sure.
Ten years ago there were more
burglaries than forgeries. Three
years later the forgeries crept up to
double the number of burglaries. A
year after that, forgeries had multi
piled until they were four times as
numerous as burglaries. and in 1910
forgery and check-raising had jumped
to seven times the number of bur-
glaries. Reports to the Bankers AS
ISOLATION for 1913 show about twenty
forgery and check-raising cases to
every crime of violence such as bur
glary, safe blowing, etc. These are
only the reported cases, mind you!
Most cases of check-raising are never
reported. This is because few bust
ness men care to have it known that
a check OF theirs has been raised.
Making public such loss may embar-
rass business man, hurt his credit,
involve his relatives, and hold him
up to ridicule for neglecting such OBJ
viously necessary protection as that
for his bank balance and credit
In spite of the Importance of check
protection and risk run through lack
of it, however business men who are
otherwise most intelligent and far
sighted are prone to neglect this most
important of matters, some say, 'My
checks go only to responsible people" ;"
forgetting that this is equally true of
everyone's checks. Who would know
ingly send his check to an irresponsi-
BILE person? Yet check raisers get
millions of dollars a year. What
does this mean? Only that between
the signer of any check and the re-
sponsible person or concern to whom
1t is supposed to go, the opportunities
for the check raiser are many and
varied.
Every year a small army of postal
employees are discharged for dishon-
esty-stealing money and checks
from the mails. Newspapers tell
every day of mail-box robberies by
sneak thieves. Employees of the "re-
sponsible people" often go astray.
They handle, credit, check and de-
posit moneys received for their en-
ployers and temptation proves too
much for them. So, you see, there
are literally hundreds of opportuni
ties for the check raiser to get your
checks between the time they leave
your hands and when they come back
to you from the bank, marked
paid"
Another excuse you may give for
failure to employ proper check pro-
lection is, 81 write only a few
checks" or "My checks are small"
This is not even an excuse. The rails
Ing of single check might wipe out
your entire bank balance or over
draw your account. Do wise business
men wait for fire? Don't they insure
against fire in advance and then hone
fire may never visit them? Yet the
raising of single check (and check
raisers invariable select the small
one) may prove more disastrous than
any fire,
We hear II said, "The banks will
stand the loss" If you really believe
this, your information is very imper-
feet, for, as matter of fact. banks
do not stand such losses, nor are they
required to, since, in most cases.
check raisers do not leave any trace
of their work by which the alteration
could be proven in court.
Check raisers deal in genuine sig
natures as their stock in trade. They
only raise the amount of the check
and leave your signature as you
; wrote II. This is part of the subtlety
of the check raiser's method of steal.
| ing.
> Again, you may feel that it ism
necessary to protect your checks be
cause you have heard of Every few
checks raised round here" o
course not IL you had a checl
raised, would you tell of It? WoulC
you want 1t known? Are your neigh
bors likely to tell you. IL check O
theirs had been raised? Detectiv,
and police reports show that check
: are constantly being raised in al
+, parts OF the United States. No com
munity is exempt. One locality is no
any safer than another. The check
raiser is busy all the time and every
! where. You may be the next to suf
fer. Who can tell? Who reall!
: knows?
The most foolish excuse of all
however, is that man who says, an
take a chance" He insures his life
his health, his home, his business ant
all his other belongings. He insurei
against loss by fire. by flood. by acci
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