Business Cheque Fraud

You are a company owner or representative and a cheque from your company has been altered and cashed. Here are the steps you need to take to protect yourself.

• Call your local bank branch and report the forgery of your cheque. Ask the branch to put a manual alert on your account to verify all cheque transactions.
• Open a new chequing account and order new cheques.
• Monitor the account until all legitimate cheques have been cleared. Do a daily account reconciliation and report any fraudulent cheque withdrawals to your branch immediately. Some banks will only give you a 72-hour window to report a fraud once they have been made aware that your account has been compromised.
• Once all real cheques have cleared, close the account

Remember - your cheque was used to perpetrate a scam such as the mystery shopper scam, the lottery scam, the inheritance scam, etc. The person who cashed the cheque will be held responsible by the bank to return the funds to them. In all instances, the bank is the victim of the cheque fraud, not you.

If you believe your cheques were compromised through the mail system you may also wish to contact Canada Post online or at 1-800-267-1177.

Report the theft or fraudulent use of a cheque online.