Would it be possible for someone to pull a stunt like in this movie off, in this day and age? Or forge a check at all? Just curious, if stuff like this still happens.
shareYes, it's still possible to forge a check. But it is MUCH easier to steal somebody's credit card information and buy things online, or do unauthorized bank account transfers.
I will come back for you. 3 years, I promise.
DISTRICT 10, 2013
Forging checks might even be easier these days since bank tellers so rarely see them any more.
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But theres still a balance in how difficult the crime is: unlike back then it is SO easy to track someone. Like, insanely easy, with all this technology and connectivity.
shareYes, very true, much easier to track people now. Now a days if you try and cash a check someplace you have to give a thumbprint, at least that's the case where I live.
shareAll I can say is that as somebody who has worked in a bank for the past three years, I have yet to come across a forged/fake check. I see plenty of counterfeit cash, but no checks. The poster who claims tellers rarely see checks anymore is talking out his ass.
Anyone here mentions Hotel California dies before the first line clears his lips.
I've been a banker for many years, and while forging checks is certainly possible and still done to a limited degree, the reason Frank's schemes were so successful is that it took so long for the checks to clear and for the bank to find out. Now checks clear in 2 days max, and most companies use a check clearing program to verify funds.
shareSome of his ploys which didn't make the movie could easily be pulled off today:
He took a stack of deposit slips from a bank where he had just opened an account, stenciled his account number onto them, then replaced them into the rack in the bank's lobby. Anyone who made a deposit with a slip with his stencil on it had his money go into Frank's account. He went in the next day and withdrew the balance (over $38,000) and closed the account.
He got a security guard uniform, went into a mall near closing time and put a sign on the bank's night depository that said "out of order- leave deposits with guard." All the businesses in the mall willing handed over their entire day's revenue to him, and he walked out the door with it.
It wasn't a mall, it was at the airport where the rental car agents returned the night's deposits.
shareThis is what I was going to say. The places around where I live all run the check through some kind of machine(excuse my lack of bank lingo) to verify the funds, so it's no different than paying with a debit card. If the money isn't there the crime is stopped before it even starts.
shareIn those days, cheques were ubiquitous. They are hardly used any more.
In any case, I wouldn't try it if I were you...