Why Paying Bills With a Check is Not Secure.
By
Staten Island, NY Posted: 8/31/2016 1:00:00 AM
People go out of their way to shred anything with their account number, but they forget about the most obvious document, a check.
I know a lot of people who refuse to use the Internet to pay their bills. To them, there's no substitute for the "Security" of hand writing their checks, and putting them into an envelope. After all, everyone knows how insecure the "InterWeb" can be... Right?
The truth is, every time you hand somebody a check, you are not only giving them your bank account, but everything they need to take advantage of it, including your name, address, and even the routing number.
All an identity thief needs to access your account is right there in black and white. An identity thief who takes a job processing checks can simply write down, or even take a photo of your checks and they will have immediate access to your account. The bottom line is that hand written checks are not as secure as you may think.
Obviously, some bills are safer to pay than others. I would never give a hand written check to a stranger, especially to buy something online or at a flea market, but that doesn't mean that a check used to pay your gas or electric is secure. There's always a chance that the person opening the mail could be a potential identity thief.
Once they have your banking information, they can print their own checks and even make online payments without even printing any checks. It's that easy.
By contrast, when you pay your bills electronically, your account information isn't even visible to anyone inside the company receiving the payment, making it far more secure.
Even if the person receiving your check is honest, you can still lose money, if they make a mistake and apply it to the wrong account.
Joe Crescenzi, Founder
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