Lost or stolen checks: exactly what to do next

What should you do first when checks are lost or stolen?

Act in the first hour, not the first week. The order below puts the steps that stop money leaving your account ahead of the paperwork:

• Call your bank's fraud or customer service line and say checks are missing
• Give the check numbers or the range, even if it is approximate
• Ask the bank to stop payment on those numbers, or to close the account
• Review recent activity online for checks you did not write
• Change online banking passwords if a wallet or bag held login details
• Write down who you spoke to, when, and any reference numbers

If the checks were stolen along with a wallet, a purse or mail, treat it as a theft, not a loss. That changes the next decision.

If you do not know which numbers are missing, work it out from your records. Find the last check you recorded in the register or software and the last number printed on the box label or reorder form. Everything between those two numbers that has not cleared is at risk. Give the bank that full range rather than guessing.

Should you stop payment or close the account?

Stop payment works when you know exactly which checks are missing and there are only a few. Closing the account works when a whole book, a box of stock, or an unknown number of checks is gone, because a thief can fill in any number. The FTC recovery plan for identity theft advises asking the bank to stop payment on stolen checks and close the account when someone is writing bad checks against it.

Closing means moving direct deposits, automatic payments and payroll to the new account, so ask the bank to keep the old account open briefly for items you did write.

How long does a stop payment last?

Under the Uniform Commercial Code, a written stop payment order is effective for six months and can be renewed for further six month periods. An oral order lapses after 14 calendar days unless you confirm it in writing within that time. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau adds that banks usually charge a fee, and that closing the account may be the permanent fix once a stop order expires.

Ask your bank for the exact fee, the duration it applies, and whether it can place a range stop on several consecutive numbers at once. Business account fees and rules can differ from personal ones.

Who else should you notify?

Your bank is only the first call. The FTC suggests asking your bank to report the theft to its check verification system and contacting check verification companies directly so merchants refuse the stolen checks. The FTC recovery plan lists TeleCheck at 1-800-710-9898 and Certegy at 1-800-437-5120.

Add these reports as needed:

• Local police, for a report number your bank may ask for
• IdentityTheft.gov, if checks were used or new accounts were opened in your name
• The Postal Inspection Service at 1-877-876-2455, if checks were stolen from the mail
• ChexSystems at 1-800-428-9623 for a free report if you suspect someone opened a checking account in your name
• Your accountant and anyone else who approves payments for the business

What if a stolen check has already been cashed?

Contact your bank immediately and ask for the money to be restored. The CFPB explains that state law generally does not make you responsible for a check on which someone forged your signature, but the protection usually does not apply if you signed a blank check and a thief filled in their own name. That is one more reason never to presign checks.

Speed also protects you. Under the Uniform Commercial Code, you must review statements with reasonable promptness, and a customer who does not report an unauthorized signature or alteration within one year cannot assert it against the bank. Your account agreement may set a shorter window, so report forged items within days.

How do you reorder checks after a theft?

Wait until the bank confirms your new account number, then order checks for the new account only. Consider starting the new account at a check number far from the old range, so any old check that appears later is obviously out of sequence. Our guide to what number your checks should start at explains how banks and software treat starting numbers.

Before ordering, confirm these details against the bank's paperwork:

Voqado takes routing and account numbers through a protected form that is encrypted separately from the cart, and sends a production proof before printing. Our business check order checklist walks through every field so the new checks match the new account.

How do you keep it from happening again?

Most repeat losses come from the same gaps. Lock blank stock and log every number range. Never carry more checks than you need. Mail checks inside the post office. Reconcile every few days and enroll in positive pay so unknown numbers become exceptions instead of payments.

Paper matters too. Chemically reactive stock and microprinting make stolen checks harder to alter or copy, as our overview of check security features explains. For the washing scheme that often follows mail theft, see how check washing works, and for a full set of office controls, use our small business check fraud prevention checklist.