Who does that?

[janedavitt]

Just picked up a wallet for two bucks from a charity shop because with my current one the credit card pockets are so tight it's a running battle to slide the cards out. Got it home, started to fill it... and found a folded blank cheque inside.

A SIGNED folded blank cheque.

Obviously, I tore it up lickety spit, but is it me or is that risky? I guess if someone did fill it out for a small, safe amount, and cash it, it could get traced back to them and they'd get prosecuted...still had me wide-eyed and thinking they were darn lucky I found it.

Comments

[alexseanchai]

If you didn't shred the address too badly, write them a letter saying be more careful.

[janedavitt]

Eh, seems too complex and they might think I'd now got their acct number and was planning something nefarious.

[carolyn_claire]

That almost sounds like a 'social experiment' of some kind. I don't think filling out a signed, blank check is a crime, though? If you forge the signature it's a crime, but if it's signed, it's pretty much just like cash, isn't it? Which is why I suspect it might have been a deliberate plant.

[janedavitt]

It has to be cheque fraud though and they (rightly) come down on that hard. I mean, it's stealing. I'd have been taking money that wasn't mine. The signature looked very careful, copperplate and it was a couple on the cheque so I'm seeing little pensioners, maybe the lady died and the husband donated the wallet...

[carolyn_claire]

No, it would be wrong, of course it would, but I'm saying it's possible someone planted the check to see if someone would try to cash it. It's kind of strange that that was the only thing left in the wallet, otherwise. I'd probably call and ask them about it; it it's a scheme of some kind, it would be interesting to know what comes of it, and if it was an accident on their part it might ease their minds to know that someone isn't going to try to cash it.

[wesleysgirl]

Whoa, that's a little scary that they'd carry around a signed check like that!

[janedavitt]

I felt as panicked on their behalf as if it were my cheque. Couldn't tear it up fast enough.

[senmut]

My Papaw used to let Granny sign him a check, then he'd take it to the store to do the shopping, just that one check, already signed.

But he had bad arthritis, so with both names printed and her signature, all he needed was to show ID.

I can't imagine him ever placing it in his WALLET though, or forgetting he had one. I distinctly remember they always went in his breast pocket, and once when an Aunt arrived with the very thing he'd been about to go and get, he shredded it.

[janedavitt]

He sounds like he had it all organized to a t.

[sid]

I can only think of instances where a check with everything filled in except the dollar amount would be handy. You can't be home and your neighbor pays the plumber, etc. I suppose you might not know exactly how the plumber wants the check made out, though...

I'm (very vaguely) reminded of when my maternal grandmother passed away, and we were going through her things. We found some checking account deposit slips, which my mother promptly tore up instead of simply tossing them into the wastebasket, although my brother was saying, "Hey, if anyone wants to make a deposit into Grandma's account, we'll take it!"

You've just reminded me of a random thing to add to my recent Random post! http://sid.dreamwidth.org/269697.html

[janedavitt]

Glad to help :-))

[primsong]

They're darn lucky indeed - bless you for your honesty!

[janedavitt]

Thank you! But honestly, who could do anything else and be able to sleep at night? Do as you would be done by.

[copracat]

As a former bookkeeper I can tell you that kind of financial irresponsibility it far from uncommon. I had clients who would want to leave me with signed blank cheques when they were away so I could pay bills for them or handle "emergencies". It was so hard to convince a couple of them that really, that's what bookkeeping was FOR, to have a schedule and a budget so there were no "emergencies".

It's unlikely to be any kind of test and if the owner of the account knows they've lost that cheque they've almost certainly cancelled it at the bank. It was probably just so much paper if your banking/cheque system works like ours, that is.

[dirty_diana]

Fun information: it is really hard to cancel a cheque in the Cdn system without a known amount. If you were missing a bunch of cheques they could close the account numbers involved and open you a new one. (And *even then* your branch may post cheques written in an old account to your new one, thinking they're doing you a favour.)

Used to work in the banking system. And once had a guy reporting a stolen debit card tell me his pin nimber was his address # (ie, information easily found inside the stolen wallet). People are not that careful. But it's good that we are. :)

[copracat]

Wow, yeah, that is hard. In Australia, banks will generally not honour a cheque that is more than six months old (which, of course, only works if the cheque is dated) but you can generally but a block on a cheque by cheque number and account number. A tedious process and they charge a fee, but it is possible.

[janedavitt]

It is! I think we get complacent then it bites us on the bottom ;-)

[janedavitt]

I never used to keep track of my cheques so I probably wouldn't have even known :;is shamed:;.

[copracat]

Well, you are probably not employing someone you expect to keep track of things you're not keeping track of, and expecting them to make accurate reports to the tax department. :D

[jenlev]

Holy bat dren....double meep!

[janedavitt]

I was in a tizz, i tell you! It was like holding a ticking bomb, lol

[jenlev]

I makes me want to double check my backpack before I go places even more.