This page contains two stories about the need for security documents and links to several other security document stories. You can cut and paste them into your web site or use them in newsletters or other printed pieces.

Protect Your Company's Financial Future
By Securing Your Documents

Once the exclusive domain of criminal masterminds, forgery is becoming easier for the Average Joe to commit--disgruntled employees alter checks, scalpers duplicate tickets for sports venues, and shoppers change the value of gift certificates.

As desktop publishing equipment becomes easier to use and high-end printers become more affordable, more and more criminals are trying their hand at document fraud. Color copiers, scanners, laser printers and personal computers are now weapons of choice for criminals.

Today, if you fail to properly protect your documents, you could be held financially responsible if those documents are duped. In the past, banks were held entirely responsible for losses in check fraud cases, even when their customers were negligent. However, since the revision of the Uniform Commercial Code (legal rules regarding all commercial transactions) in 1990, bank customers must show "due diligence" in everything from incorporating check security features to storing checks properly.

According to experts, check fraud will cost American businesses and banks approximately $16 billion this year. Can you afford to be one of those victims? You must protect all of your documents of value, from checks to gift certificates. We can layer your documents with the latest security features, from security papers to specialty inks, while teaching you how to thwart these high-tech criminals.

Here are some additional tips that can help prevent you from falling victim to document fraud:

• Ask your bank for written copies of the procedures they follow and their recommendations for the procedures that you should follow to prevent check fraud.
  
  
• Ask your bank if they have a "Positive Pay" program, in which you supply them with the check numbers of all of the checks you have issued.
  
  
• Implement internal controls within your company, including reviewing your bank statements regularly, keeping all checks or cash equivalents in a secure area and changing keys or access codes regularly.

Are You Playing Russian Roulette With Your Company's Financial Future?
The proliferation of desktop publishing systems and high-end laser printers, color copiers and scanners have led more and more criminals to try their hand at document fraud. Still, many businesses continue to shirk the need for document security—an expensive gamble. Since the revision of the Uniform Commercial Code in 1990, companies that don't show "ordinary care" by taking steps to prevent fraud can be held liable for fraudulent checks. "Ordinary care" includes use of security features such as void pantographs, microprinting, watermarks and bleed-through numbering, as well as proper storage of checks and other negotiable documents. Call us today to learn how to protect your business from document fraud.