Be careful when accepting checks for numismatic and bullion payments

Dentuck

I've had some interesting conversations with coin dealers recently, about check fraud (including fraudsters trying to make large gold purchases with elaborately staged fake-bank-check scams).

I get a weekly digest from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, and this morning there was some insight on checks:

"The Association for Financial Professionals notes in its 2016 Payments Fraud and Control Survey that checks remain the most targeted payment method. Seventy-one percent of the 627 responding companies reported successful or attempted check fraud on their business accounts in 2015. The survey also found that checks accounted for the largest dollar amount of loss of all the payment methods, including wire transfers. On a positive note, the percentage of companies actually suffering a financial loss from check fraud declined from 57 percent in 2013 to 43 percent in 2015.

Checks remain a target since they are so easy to counterfeit or alter compared to electronic items. While much of the risk management effort focuses on electronic payments, be sure not to forget about the paper check. It is obvious the crooks haven't."

1630Boston

Thanks for the info

ricko

Good cautionary message Dennis.... I did some deals on the BST for darkside gold about eight years ago... I did take checks, but they were from established members and cleared nicely. I would hesitate to do that with total strangers....Cheers, RickO

Coinstartled

Had a conversation with the controller of Pizza Hut two decades ago. They did not accept credit cards at the time and he told me that they received a million bad checks a year. Still cheaper he told me than credit card fees.

Of course they are a much higher margin business than coins....

roadrunner

Checks can "clear." And can still be clawed back later under various circumstances.