BANK ROUTING NUMBERS ON CHECKING ACCOUNTS PROVIDE CRIMINALS CASH THROUGH QCHEX INTERNET SERVICE

The national check clearing system processes 37 billon checks totaling more than $39 trillion dollars every year. Within the billions of dollars traversing the network every day are car payments, toothpaste purchases, utility bills, and forged checks or "demand drafts" produced by internet service provider Qchex.

New techniques in check forging and forged electronics fund transfers using bank routing numbers are on the increase. With the credit card companies establishing in the public mind that identity theft equal credit theft, consumers are failing to protect themselves against one of the oldest identity theft crimes – check forgery and bank account fraud.

The state of Florida, one of the states with the highest incidence of identity theft crimes, reports a 54% increase of check forgery facilitated by copying bank routing numbers. Bank routing numbers are the key to both depositing and withdrawing funds. Bank routing numbers flow through the system, not the checks themselves. These simple numbers are the key to stealing funds directly from consumer accounts.

How are these numbers captured? One way is by looking at your checks and copying the numbers down. A merchant employee can do this, or a teenage visiting the household. It’s not necessary to steal the checks. Only the numbers are required. The latest technique is to use cell phone cameras to photograph the routing numbers as you fill out your check at a merchant or bank. Too many consumers assume that by protecting their supply of checks they are preventing forgery. It’s not the checks themselves that really need protection – it’s the bank routing and account numbers than are critical to protect. Signatures are irrelevant to this scheme.

One recent scam involved a company called Qchex which provided an internet service that allowed stolen account and routing numbers to create “demand draft” checks that did not require signatures. The demand drafts then were used to steal money from consumer accounts and deposit them into criminal accounts. The criminal accounts were then immediately converted to cash. The website of qchex www.qchex.com has since been shut down.