How to Verify a Personal Check
- 1). When given a personal check, ask for additional forms of identification. For example, if the person giving you a check only offers a driver's license, ask for more identification. Ideally, the person will have another government-issued photo ID with his signature on it. Match all of the names and signatures.
- 2). Locate the address and name on the check. Refuse the check if this information is handwritten, because this indicates that they are starter checks, which are known to be used for fraud. Accept the check if the information was printed by the check manufacturer.
- 3). Locate the nine-digit number at the bottom of the check. Run a check-up on the Internet (see Resources) to confirm that the bank's ABA number matches the one printed on the check.
- 4). Find the bank's phone number via its website. Do not call the number printed on the check; in the same way a fake check can be printed, a fake phone line can be set up to fraudulently pose as a bank.
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