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12 November 2002
Standard Bank warns of cheque scam
Standard Bank has appealed to retailers throughout the country to be cautious when accepting cheques allegedly issued by banks, following the discovery of several fraudulent cheques.
The latest scam involves the interception of bank cheques, which are altered to resemble authentic bank issued cheques. At first glance these bank cheques appear to be genuine, but
closer examination indicates inconsistencies and mistakes, such as spelling errors and inconsistent handwriting.
Several cases have been brought to Standard Bank's attention. In one case, a retailer managed to thwart a fraud of R46 000 by checking the validity of the cheque with the bank.
Genuine bank cheques have a printed "Not Negotiable" crossing in the centre of the cheque. In addition, they have a silver embossed Standard Bank logo in the bottom left corner of the cheque. Genuine bank cheques are always hand written in ink and not typed. Furthermore, the cheques issued by Standard Bank are not marked "good for funds".
Retailers concerned about the validity of a cheque should contact the branch on which the cheque is drawn before releasing any goods.
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