Counterfeiting Scheme Targets SKF Payroll Checks

An Aiken, South Carolina gang used counterfeit payroll checks from nearby SKF Automotive Division in Graniteville to net at least $30,000, said Police. The five-week scheme apparently involved eight suspects passing at least fifteen counterfeit SKF payroll checks in the area. The fake checks were apparently created by one of the gang using a home computer and high-quality color printer. Virtually all of the suspects have now been apprehended and charged, a job they made considerably easier for law enforcement authorities by using their real names on the checks. eBearing spoke to an FBI agent who suggested the criminals lacked the documents needed to pass themselves off under another identity. Businesses require proper identification, such as a driver's license, when a check is presented, so the counterfeiters were forced to use their real names. The agent noted this amateurish effort still netted $30,000 -- and illustrates just another way businesses have been forced to become far more cautious about the security, quality and origin of every important business document, not just checks.