If there was a handbook for how to become a successful fraudster, the first sentence of the first chapter would go something like this: “Go where the money is.”
Perhaps that’s why, in the midst of the seemingly never-ending stream of headlines about data breaches, account takeovers, stolen credit cards and online fraud, the notion of “check fraud” seems something of an outlier for the up-and-coming fraudster looking to make a decent living.
But it’s an outlier that, according to the FBI, has racked up more than $18 billion in losses last year in the U.S. and has hit about 70 percent of all organizations in the country.