I work for Clarke American (www.clarkeamerican.com) and I want to dispel a lot of your fears. We are the 2nd (or 3rd I forget right now...) largest check provider in the US. Your biggest risk in ordering checks is by ordering from one of the bargain places you see advertised on the Internet or in newspapers... Yes they have great novelty checks for almost anything, and are incredibly cheap, however something has to be sacrificed to get the cost so low, and what the usually cheap out on is the printing materials (Inks and paper) and the technology of the check design itself. When I started working for CA we spent a TON of time learning about check fraud (Like our partners that work in the branches learn as well), and the cutting edge technologies that are being implemented to combat the crooks. Check washing was huge a few years ago, however it has become less of a concern for the major check providers (usually the ones that you're referred to from your bank.) It is amazing the technology behind checks these days. For example, if you exposed our checks to any type of altering chemical, it causes a reaction with the paper that browns it and fades all of the information off, so any attempts to alter the check chemically by removing the ink simply leaves you with a check-sized piece of paper colored grocery-bag brown, or with huge blue dots on the check. Our checks are also near impossible to copy (As the tellers know), attempts to copy the checks are met with a huge VOID showing up on the copy, as well as we also mix in fibers to some of the higher-grade check papers that are only visible under a black light. Also, take a look at your signature line with a magnifying glass... you should notice that it's not a line at all, but actual words that would blur if it were put into a copier. The best thing you can do is actually order checks through your branch, Check washing is a concern of the past for the major providers, we usually stay ahead of the crooks, and are constantly keeping your security in mind. It does mean you will have to play a little more for your checks, but the pay-off is the peace of mind of knowing that your financial information is secure and safe. Just so you know, to order checks from us, your Financial Institution must be partnered with us (The same is true for deluxe I believe). To learn more you can actually stop in most branches and ask to see the check catalog and listed within the catalog you can see the security features I mentioned here as well as others. So, let not your heart be troubled, this is not near the issue it once was!
