Cheque kiting is an increasingly common type of financial scam where the scammer intentionally writes a cheque with a value greater than the account balance. In 2008, 60% of fraudulent financial losses involved cheques. It’s important to understand the different types of cheque fraud and how to protect yourself from cheque kiting.
Cheque kiting happens when someone writes a cheque from a bank account with insufficient funds to cover the cost of that cheque, deposits it into another bank account, and then withdraws the money.
Since cheques take time to clear, fraudsters get away with the money before the bank finds out that the bank account the cheque was written from has insufficient funds. The scammer gets away, and the bank has essentially given them free money.
Identifying the types of cheque kiting is the first step in protecting yourself against it. There are three kinds of cheque kiting:
A cheque is written from an account with insufficient funds. This cheque is then deposited at another bank, and the money is withdrawn immediately. The cheque at the first bank takes time to clear, so fraud isn’t detected until several days later.
Cheques are written from accounts with insufficient funds at multiple banks. A scammer writes a cheque from one bank and deposits it into an account at another bank. The second bank credits the account because it assumes the cheque is genuine. The amount of the cheque is then withdrawn and deposited at the first bank to cover the cheque as it was based on insufficient funds. Cheques are written between banks where the accounts have insufficient funds, but the banks continue to assume the cheques are genuine and credit the accounts. The cycle can continue until one or more banks realize it is a scam.
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This scam is most commonly seen online in marketplaces like Facebook Marketplace or Kijiji. Someone writes you a cheque for something they want to buy and asks you to wire transfer part of it back to them because the cheque is for an amount greater than the asking price. The cheque bounces and you are responsible for the entire amount of the bounced cheque. You also lose what you were selling.
There are several things you can do to protect yourself from cheque kiting:
Learn how to transfer money to a bank account.
If you’re a victim of cheque kiting or cheque fraud, contact the local police or the RCMP. You may also consider contacting the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. Although you may not get your money back, you can help to ensure that scammers will stop getting away with their crimes.
Cheque kiting is becoming increasingly common in the world of financial fraud. Knowing the different kinds of cheque kiting and how they work will help you to protect yourself against this scam. However, even the best of us still fall victim to scams sometimes. If you’ve been a victim of cheque kiting, there are several organizations you should contact. Overall, if you know the basics of cheque kiting and how to protect yourself, you should be able to protect yourself.
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Matthew joined the Loans Canada writing team in 2021 while was finishing up a Bachelor's degree at the University of Saskatchewan. It was there that he discovered his love of writing. His work has appeared in several publications, including the Canadian Student Review and NewEngineer.com. In his spare time, Matthew enjoys reading, geocaching, and spending time with his family and pets.
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