How to Reduce the Chances of Fraud when Writing a Cheque

As many of you know, i have spent a majority of my young career in the forensic accounting department and i have had my fair share of Economic Offences investigated under my hand. I think it's time i give something back to Society by explaining how you can reduce the chances of fraud occurring when you issue a cheque.

1. Always keep your cheque book under lock and key.
2. Maintain and update in Real Time a digital as well as physical Cash Book.
3. Always draw a line after you have finished writing the name of the Payee on the Cheque to cover up the remaining space.
4. Always write in Full Block Letters.
5. Make sure the amount in figures is hugging the initial margin of the box in which it is to be written.
6. Draw a slash and hypen after the above figures.
7. Stick some tape over the figure in numbers to prevent adulteration.
8. Write the word "Only" after the amount in words ALWAYS.
9. When destroying a cheque , always cut out and BURN the cheque number.
10. The Signatory part of the Cheque must be disposed off separately.
11. Always destroy old cancelled cheques.
12. The type of pen you use makes a difference. Most ballpoint and marker inks are dye based, meaning that the pigments are dissolved in the ink. But, based on ink security studies, gel pens, which contain tiny particles of colour that are trapped into the paper, making check washing a lot more difficult.

I don't recommend writing cheques anymore. I highly recommend online payments which should be secured by alpha-numeric PINs which should be changed every week.