Protect Your Checks from Being "Washed"

Did you know that there are corrupt people out there who can take your check and "wash" it and therefore change the amount and who it is written to? Yep. It happens.

They make special ink pens now for writing your checks - the one I have is called a Uniball Signo.

However, after I went through the trouble of tracking down this pen (finally found it at an office supply), I found out that an ordinary gel pen probably works just as well. And I have plenty of those!

My very favorite gel pen is the Pilot G-2. They come in different colors, and I stock up on them when Walgreens or other places put them on sale.

I don't write as many checks as I used to -- I mostly pay my bills online (another thing I LOVE) -- but when I do, I make sure I use my Signo pen or a gel pen. These days, it pays to be cautious.

Take note of this: Last summer, we had an outgoing check stolen from our mailbox. I've always been careful not to put mail out there overnight, but didn't know it wasn't safe in the morning. Our neighbor found the envelope ripped open and empty in her yard. It was a long process of closing the checking account, putting a fraud alert on our credit, repaying the bill, etc. What a pain! But it could have been worse if we hadn't found out.

Now I don't put any outgoing mail in our mailbox. And the incoming mail is locked - another thing I can highly recommend.