Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-01-12
THE WILEY CHECK RAISER.
One or TWO Simple Tricks Of the Pre-
fessionaI Forger.

The methods of the torger in Oh
tanning checks signed by responsible
men and business houses are most in
teresting in showing how difficult it is
to guard against the "check raiser
Checks being more largely used now
than eve before, the opportunities
for securing them are greatly increas
ed, and, correspondence, the losses
on altered checks run into millions OF
dollars annually.
You will see that a S. check signed
by a good name, corporation, firm OF
Individual, is just what the forgcr
wants, because he "a twist the give"
into "ffty,' give hundred" or five
thousand" as ne desires. Again, by
the use Of acid ink eraser" he can
remove all the writing on the check
except the signature (Which he care.
fuzzy p~reserves) and thus rewrite the
check for any amount he chooses,
Detective agencies report an amazing
variety of stunts used by both ANA
teur and professional forgers.
Having secured the genuine check,
the forger performs his interesting
operation, often removing the design
Of the paper if necessary, and restor-
ing it after the amount has been al
tered to suit his needs. However, in
many cases, it Is not required to re-
nov anything at all, IS many small
amounts can be changed by "pen-
ning'-simply adding a few pen
strokes to. the original amount-and
there you are! D
When the alteration is finally dis.
covered by the concern, that issued
the check, the question is, "How are
You going to prove the alteration? ?"
Or, (Which n Of the several en-
d0rsers on this check was the guilty
party?" 1t is a very diff cult situa-
ton, and one that al rarely be clear
ed up to the satisfaction Of the bank,
the depositor, the correspondent
banks and others concerned.
1t might be mentioned that there
are recently investigated cases where
they managed to alter the checks, in
such a way that they actually left no,
they accomplished it in.
the following manner /
Orders had been given to a bank to
step payment on a certain check for
a certain amount, payable to a, whole
sale house, dated on such a day, num-
bered so-ond-so. 1t was believed that
the check had been stolen. Twice
two months the bank was re-
minded to be on the lookout for this
check-and then in the last hour of a
busy Saturday morning during the
third month, the check slipped
through. But: the bank was not to
blame. "
The forger had first raised" the
amount by several hundred dollars.
Then he changed the number Of the
and brought the date right up
to that very day, as though the check
had been given him only a few min
utes previous to his appearance at
the bank. Lastly he had removed the
name of the rightful payee and writ
ten his own name instead, so that he
did not have to forge an Endorsement.
He was properly identified, Endorsed
the check with his own name, took
he money and disappeared. There
was absolutely nothing of the origin
writing left but the genuine sigma
;urc. How could you blame the bank?
Moreover, the work was so perfect
executed that it is doubtful if it
would have been possible to prove the
even if the swindlers had
)een caught. They were not, for the
'raud was not discovered until near