The Houston Police Department has for several weeks been investigating two significant cases in which at least 16 checks were either passed or cashed at area businesses.
Chief Jim McNiell believes that if workers had exercised a bit more caution at the businesses where the checks were taken in, most –– if not all –– of the bad transactions would have been avoided.
“There are several safeguards business owners can use to make sure they don’t fall victim to these schemes,” McNiell said. “There are some people who just live for getting money without having to work and doing it in dishonest ways. Unfortunately, our business owners become our victims.
“What I would recommend is that in every instance, be sure that whoever’s name is on the check is who you’re dealing with –– especially if you don’t know them. The way to do that is through photo identification.”
One of the cases Houston police are working on involves two people who have passed forged checks on closed accounts at four area businesses –– three in Houston and one in Licking. The other case involves a woman who lives south of Mountain Grove who has forged and passed at least a dozen checks in Houston and possibly many more in several surrounding counties. McNiell said a man could also face charges in that case.
In each transaction, a worker accepted a check from a person whose name wasn’t on it. In each instance, McNiell said, identification was not requested.
“If someone is giving you a check, whether to make a purchase or have it cashed, make sure they have accurate photo ID,” he said. “Make sure their name, address and phone number are on that check, and match up with what’s on their ID. If not, ask why. Also, make sure to get their date of birth and make sure their full name appears on the check. Those are keys law enforcement can use when trying to identify someone.”
McNiell also warns against blind acceptance of third-party checks.
“If someone comes in with a check that’s supposedly been signed by somebody else and it’s made out to the business and not them, that should raise some red flags, especially if you don’t know the person,” he said.
One good way Houston’s head lawman suggests dealing with the problem is video surveillance.
“I know it’s a costly tool, but I highly recommend a video system mounted near a cash register so transactions can be monitored,” he said. “When we have crimes such as passing bad checks, we get notified after the fact. When there’s video evidence, we can usually find out much easier who we’re dealing with.”
Busy periods are not a reason to ease up on check acceptance procedure, McNiell said.
“I know we sometimes get a little busy and we might be trying to push people through and let our safeguards down,” he said. “But that’s when we can end up being victimized.”
McNiell said workers shouldn’t feel embarrassed by asking for ID and shouldn’t mind if someone objects.
“It’s the price of doing business,” he said. “It’s like, ‘If you want to do business with me, then you’re going to have to produce these items. If you can’t play by my rules because I’m protecting my business, I don’t need your business.’
“And so what if there are a few people standing in line. That’s better than suffering a loss.”
While it might take an extra moment or two, McNiell figures checking ID in a business transaction can be the difference between assisting or preventing a crime.
“I think that if the business owners or workers had been a little more alert in these recent cases, a lot of this could have been caught,” he said. “Here we are dealing with 16 checks passed in the area and every one of them was forged, and the name of the person passing the check wasn’t on it –– not even where they signed it.
“The bottom line is, any time a sale is being made that you don’t feel comfortable with, don’t make it, because the one who’s going to suffer is the business owner who ends up being out the cost of whatever was sold to whoever is forging a check.”
It’s the price of doing business. It’s like, ‘If you want to do business with me, then you’re going to have to produce these items. If you can’t play by my rules because I’m protecting my business, I don’t need your business.’ And so what if there are a few people standing in line? That’s better than suffering a loss.”