Over the past several weeks some wedding industry friends and I have been plagued by a fraudulent bride. The bride was very sweet and was planning what appeared to be an amazing event. She was able to give us details about everything that she wanted and even furnished me with a guest list.
As any seasoned professional knows, you don’t start working on an event until the client pays a deposit. Well, this bride did. For all of us, the deposit checks appeared to have cleared, only to be debited from our accounts after about a week. For many of us, the worst that happened is that we lost some valuable time, for others, they lost money because they had obligated themselves to purchasing items on behalf of the client.
The biggest puzzle is that the “bride” wasn’t getting anything other than our time, a free sandwich, and a few bottles of water. She didn’t ask for us to pay for anything, she didn’t get any goods because the wedding was months away. None of us could figure out what her game was.
This experience opened my eyes to how easily one could be fooled by someone with a good story. I figured one positive thing that could come from this experience is that I can help arm you against someone trying to defraud your business.
In spite of all of our modern technology, check clearing (meaning, once a check has been deposited that was written to you—the time it takes for the money to actually be transferred into your account from the paying bank) is not always instantaneous. Many banks use electronic means to process checks immediately, but in some cases, checks deposited may take anywhere from two business days (for checks drawn on local banks) to five or six business days (for non-local checks drawn on banks out of state). It all depends on the distance between your bank and the bank on which the check is drawn.
Source: www.ehow.com
Here is how you can protect yourself from bad checks:
- Local (in-state) checks are preferred as they don’t take as long to clear as non-local (out of state) checks.
- If you consider the check to be a large amount, ask for a certified (or “cashier’s”) check.
- Always ask for and record ID on the person writing the check, if their phone number is not printed on the check, ask for and record it as well.
- Deposit the check in a timely manner and wait until the funds have cleared to write checks from your own account that will be paid with that money (typically two days for in-state checks, and six days for out of state checks—check with your bank if you have any questions or concerns).
If your gut tells you that something is fishy, pay attention to it. You don’t want to walk away from a good opportunity, but DO NOT pay money out for someone prior to knowing, without a shadow of a doubt, that their check to you has cleared.
Here are some other good articles for you to read:
Criminal penalties for check fraud by state.
Civil penalties for check fraud by state.
What to do when someone writes a bad check.
If you have any thoughts to share about protecting your business from fraud, post for me here, or send me an email: susan(at)susansoutherland(dot)com.
