How and why to avoid using checks.
Whereas cash is virtually untraceable, checks
provide investigating authorities with perhapes
the most complete set of opportunities for
finding out who paid what to whom, when - and by
asking around, perhapes also why.
Both the face and the back of any cleared check
is stored for posterity on microfilm, giving away
the following information to those who may care
to look: name and location of issuing bank,
account number on which check was drawn, issuing
date, amount, to whom the check was made out to,
and a nice copy of the signature of the account
owner.
The back of the check will likewise show the
signature of whoever cashed or deposited the
check plus, if applicable, the signature of the
original recipient who later endorsed it and,
lastly either number of the ID (passport, driving
license) used to cash the check or the number of
the account to which the check was deposited.
Now isn't that nice - if you write a check on an
account later established to be owned by you, not
only may any remaining funds in the account be
seized, liened or attached but microfilm copies
of all checks ever drawn on the account may be
easily procured and investigated.
That is why, if you do not want anyone to know
where you live, you should never use a check to
pay your rent - not even once. If the account is
ever discovered to be connected to you then the
police, tax authorities or private investigator
will have a direct lead to your landlord and,
through him, to your physical whereabouts.
Reversely, anyone receiving a check from you may
opt to make a photocopy of it before depositing
it and will in this fashion retain information
about your bank account. If you use a check to
make the first few instalments on, say, rent or a
loan that you later fail to keep up, the clever
creditor or landlord will be in a position to
furnish a court with all the information that is
necessary to freeze ot seize your account and
everything in it. If you pay your maildrop by
check, you have totally blown your cover.
To further elaborate on the problems this may
cause you, suppose you are in another country and
pay something by a check drawn on an account
which, unbeknown to you, has been frozen in your
absence. As a foreigner, you will most likely
have to show your passport for the check to be
accepted and your passport number will be noted
on the back. When the check later turns out to
be bad, the person on the receiving end of the
bad check will be in a position to give local
authorities your passport number - which may
result in your being apprehended at the airport
the next time you either enter or leave the
country (the latter provided that computer checks
are made of passport numbers on departing that
country).
Now, you may not wish to live without checks
although it is perfectly possible and much safer.
But take all relevant precautions. You should
fully realise that whenever you write a check,
you implicitly give anyone in a position to
investigate either your own account or that
belonging to the recipient of the check, a
veritable carte blanche to persue the connection
between you and him very thoroughly. The worst
part of it is that it may not even be you
yourself who needs to make a mistake - someone
else may make the mistake for you, opening a
Pandora's box of grief for you. Let us say that
you paid a solicitor for services rendered - by
check. Unfortunately, the solicitor turns out to
be crooked and in cahoots with parts of the
underworld. Investigators poring over his
financial records and bank accounts notice that
you made a payment to their suspect. This, in
turn, may lead to your phone being tapped and
your mail intercepted and examined to see if you
too are connected to the underworld. Have you
anything to hide?
On the other hand, you may still use checks to
move money from A to B without a record of use to
anyone being created by this. One example is that
you move money into a secret, offshore bank
account a lot easier than going there in person
by sending checks to your bank - as long as you
use Cashiers checks that you have obtained
without disclosing your identity or presenting
any ID whatsoever.
Travelers checks would also be useful if you
were eventually paying them into an offshore
account of your own: check out whether you have
to sign them in front of the cashier at the point
of purchase. Failing that, the good old fashioned
postal order; find out the latest maximum value
of the highest order, bought without ID and
acceptable paid into your offshore bank account.
Check it out.
