Our Blog

Risks of Paper Checks for Secure Transactions

By Joanne Tipton
August 18, 2025

Fraud is on the rise, and paper checks are one of the easiest targets. In the not-so-distant past, a grandparent could tuck a crisp $5 bill into an envelope and trust it would arrive. Today, even checks sent to pay your bills are being stolen, altered, and cashed by criminals before they reach their destination.

So, the practice of sending a paper check in the mail to reach a creditor should be stopped. According to the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), there were over 660,000 check fraud reports in 2024. This number has stayed in the 600,000s every year since 2022, when it nearly doubled from the previous year.¹ The U.S. Postal Service has seen similar increases in mail theft, with criminals targeting collection boxes and even robbing postal carriers for paper checks.

Fraudsters have many ways to manipulate checks. Intercepting checks that are not in a secured location by simply paying attention to where mail is lying around is at the top of the list. Once they get a check in hand, they can “wash” original amounts and payees and replace them with higher numbers and their own names.

A recent incident at our company showed how risky paper checks can be. A check mailed to End Point by one of our long time customers was intercepted and fraudulently cashed by someone else. We contacted the customer multiple times to collect on the open invoice. They were sure they had paid the invoice. When they sent us a photo of the front and back of the cancelled check, we could see that an unknown person had endorsed the check and cashed it! In some cases, the sender is left holding the financial loss with no way to recover the funds.

At End Point, we don’t cash customer checks in person — all payments are deposited directly into our business accounts. While this adds some protection, it’s useless if the check never reaches us.

The safest way to pay today is electronically. We strongly encourage customers to switch to secure electronic methods such as ACH transfers or direct deposits. If a check is unavoidable, send it via Certified Mail with tracking. Protecting your payment protects both your business and ours.

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