Lawmakers urge agencies to address 'alarming' rise in check fraud

Reps. French Hill (R-Ark.), Bill Foster (D-Ill.), and 30 other members of Congress wrote to the federal banking agencies to “express significant concern over the alarming rise in physical mail theft-related check fraud” across the country. The bipartisan letter to the leaders of the FDIC, Federal Reserve, OCC, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and National Credit Union Administration requests a bipartisan briefing and urges the agencies to work together to address this pressing issue and “better allow financial institutions to protect American consumers and businesses.” The members of Congress noted that check fraud has surged by 385% since the pandemic and costs Americans and small businesses billions of dollars every year.

The lawmakers called on the agencies to:

• Help financial institutions voluntarily detect, prevent, and report suspicious activity connected to mail theft-related check fraud.
• Improve the process to allow law enforcement and customers of financial institutions to react more quickly to fraudulent activity.
• Facilitate more information-sharing between financial institutions, regulators, and law enforcement agencies.

ICBA’s Check Fraud Task Force published a new guide that explains how and when community banks should contact regulators about check fraud. Check Fraud: Engagement with Federal Bank Regulators offers suggestions on how to frame feedback and where to direct communication based on the experiences of peer community bankers.

ICBA’s Check Fraud Task Force also recently developed Check Fraud: Detection Mechanisms, and Check Fraud: A Practical Guide to Altered, Forged, and Counterfeit Checks for Community Bankers.

For more information on check fraud, community bankers can:

• Join the fraud subgroup on ICBA Community.
• Listen to an Independent Banker podcast on the issue.
• Read Independent Banker’s latest article on check fraud mitigation tips.
• Watch the recording of ICBA’s ThinkTECH Solutions Forum on fraud.
• See recent media coverage of the issue generated by ICBA

ICBA encourages community bankers to share their experiences and input on the challenge of check fraud at checkfraud@icba.org.

Attend CBA’s quarter four compliance training program that will cover several Fraud topics.

The Many Faces of Fraud (1/2 day) & Regulation E: Liability & Prohibited Practices (1/2 day) 

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
Compliance Officers & Specialists, Frontline Support Personnel, Deposit & Loan Operations and anyone who wants to learn how to prevent Fraud.