The conventional wisdom—backed by the numbers—is that paper checks are going away. Fewer are circulating each year. But even with declines in paper check use, check fraud remains a viable mechanism for profits among cybercriminals and an ongoing headache for banks. Check imaging has helped to extend the life of checks and offered ongoing opportunities for crime.

Check-related suspicious-activity reports (SARs) to FinCEN, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, nearly doubled from 2021 to 2022, and without robust check fraud detection and mitigation controls in place, financial institutions can expect the increases to continue. As long as checks circulate, criminals will exploit the technology—and consumers—for easy financial gain.