Survey shows depth of check fraud problem

Northwestern Financial Review, Dec 15-Dec 31, 2004

Attempted check fraud at the nation's banks rose to $5.5 billion in 2003, according to the American Bankers Association. While attempted check fraud continued to rise, actual dollar losses remained stable at $677 million, down slightly from the $698 million banks lost in 2001, the last year of ABAs biennial survey.

Attempted fraud totaled $4.3 billion in 2001. The number of check fraud cases increased 3 percent to 616,469 in 2003. However, average losses per case went down from $1,163 in 2001 to $1,098 in 2003. Counterfeit checks had the highest median loss per case at $3,059 followed by kiting ($2,566) and alterations ($1,452).