altering a cheque

[jonny0]

i was thinking that if someone got hold of a cheque and wanted to put in his name instead of the guy it was meant for it may be possible to erase the writing using some chemical...
anyone got ideas of how someone can alter a cheque? by using acetone or something....would that work?

[Concatenation]

i forgot most of what i learned about this. but anyway, i think they now have some security bullshit that will reveal if any such chemical is used to remove ink on most checks, and it will say "void" or something. theres might be some way to do it that still works, but i dont know it.

edit - plus arent checks sent back by the bank to the writer of the check? that would reveal your name unless you have a fake identity so you could get caught that way.

[jonny0]

Originally Posted by Concatenation

i forgot most of what i learned about this. but anyway, i think they now have some security bullshit that will reveal if any such chemical is used to remove ink on most checks, and it will say "void" or something. theres might be some way to do it that still works, but i dont know it.

edit - plus arent checks sent back by the bank to the writer of the check? that would reveal your name unless you have a fake identity so you could get caught that way.

i never knew they could detect if the cheque has been altered.
are you sure about that?

and i dont think cheques are sent back to the writer.

[Concatenation]

i'm somewhat sure, i think its a newer security method, may not be in effect for all modern checks.

and i thought that they were sent back to the writer...SWIM stole someone's mail once and there was a letter from a bank, and inside were a bunch of checks written out to other people by the person whose mail SWIM stole.

[-inefficiency-]

One thing to take into consideration is that if the person who wrote the cheque used a biro/ballpoint pen then there would be indentations where they had wrote, so you could probably see the old writing anyway - or at least tell that it had been altered.

[Kaos-theory]

in britian the person who goes in to cash the cheque gets the cheque back if the cheque bounced..

its stamped payment stoped. so then you have to go to the person who wrote it and ask why (really annoying if thats the way the guy pays you)

hope this helps

[Synchronium]

Rule of thumb: Don't take a cheque without a valid guarentee card (IE Switch)

btw, have we tried H2O2? That might work to get off fountain pen ink, especially if it was a cheap pen.

[Random]

Wouldn't peroxide affect the paper the cheque is made of, though?

[SSINK or SSWIM]

With all cheques from about 15 years ago there are various security devices in play. 1, if you rub a cheque it will display a hidden message, works like that heat ink, when rubbed words appear. also on the back of cheques they have a list of security devices in play, or you could just phone any bank and kindly ask them what sec devices they employ on there cheques.