Recently, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) told U.S. financial institutions to exercise caution when processing paper checks because they might be fake. Paper checks? Didn’t those go the way of the dodo? Jokes aside, electronic transfers have indeed replaced paper checks for many consumer and business payments. Yet paper checks are still used at many businesses and check fraud has been increasing. According to FinCEN, banks reported 680,000 check fraud incidents in 2022, almost double those reported in 2021. The U.S. Postal Service has seen similar rises in mail theft, particularly a higher incidence of criminals breaking into collection boxes and robbing postal carriers to obtain paper checks. Even if your business conducts most financial transactions electronically, you should protect against possible check fraud. Why thieves like...