How to Handle Your Checkbook Being Stolen

A stolen checkbook can jeopardize your bank account. However, if you follow a few steps, you can limit your liability. Here's how.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Contact your bank as soon as you discover your checkbook has been stolen. Place a stop payment on the affected checks, which will prevent them from being paid.
2. Move your money to a new account. This will enable you to handle your business without complete disruption.
3. Tell your bank to contact its check verification system so that your checks will not be accepted by stores. Call the leading check verification systems yourself to inform them that your checks have been stolen and that no authorizations should be issued for the affected checking account (see Resources below).
4. Order a copy of your consumer report from Chex Systems, the reporting agency that keeps track of checking information. If you find that your checking account number is being used fraudulently, you can correct the information by following the steps found at the Chex Web site (see Resources below).
5. Report that your checkbook was stolen to the police. Follow up by making additional reports if you become aware of fraudulent activity.
6. Get a free credit report to ensure that no one is using your information to open credit accounts. You have the right to get free credit reports annually from the major credit reporting agencies (see Resources below).

Tips & Warnings

• Review your bank statement every month after a theft. If you find that checks were paid that you did not write, contact your bank at once.
• Thieves can use the information on your checks to make fraudulent purchases on the phone or Internet. Be proactive and monitor all your bills.
• Let merchants know if fraudulent checks have been paid from your account to avoid legal action against you.

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