Common Chemicals for Common Criminals: Check Washing Again

The removal of several types of pen inks from personal checks is a simple process for the person who is willing to acquire checks that have been legitimately written. Using checks that have been written by the check owner provides the check washer with a model signature for each stolen check that is to be washed and rewritten. This can be confusing to the check owner when the check is finally processed at the home bank, since many bank personnel and customers can’t recognize a traced signature as non-genuine. This paper reports the results of experiments utilizing various types of common chemicals to remove inks from check stock.