Cheque Fraud Perpetrated in Australia 1 January 2009 - 31 December 2009
Category	Actual		Exposure		Recoveries*
On-Us Fraud	Number	Value ($)	Number	Value ($)	Value ($)
Valueless	11	1,289,347	158	9,201,566	58
Fraudulently Altered	576	6,126,456	990	16,019,800	1,854,801
Stolen Blank Cheque/Book	503	2,682,630	861	13,429,349	164,486
Originated Counterfeit Cheques	158	1,346,637	318	2,841,326	220,144
Non-originated Counterfeit Cheques	54	597,249	356	15,308,801	78,085
Breach of Mandate	33	1,002,762	125	2,371,184	121,441
On-Us Total	1,335	13,045,081	2,808	59,172,026	2,439,015
Deposit Fraud
Valueless	65	720,863	1,565	16,895,837	139,595
Valueless - Kite Flying	37	4,264,568	130	13,195,286	2,030
Third Party Conversion	51	612,682	76	1,042,593	14,635
Deposit Total	153	5,598,113	1,771	31,133,716	156,260
Total	1,488	18,643,194	4,579	90,305,742	2,595,275

• Payee Only - cheques that have been altered to show payee details other than those originally authorized by the drawer and where no other area of the cheque has been altered.
  
• Amount Only - cheques that have been altered to show $-amount details other than those originally authorized by the drawer and where no other area of the cheque has been altered.
  
• Both Payee AND Amount - Cheques that have been altered to show payee details AND $-amount details other than those originally authorized by the drawer and where no other area of the cheque has been altered.
  
  Note: Fraudulently altered cheques do not include cheques with forged signatures. These are included in Stolen Blank Cheque/Book and Originated or Non-Originated Counterfeit Cheques.
  
  Where alterations are made to the MICR line, items are included in the counterfeit category.

Originated Counterfeit Cheques - originated counterfeit cheques are produced using the paper of the original cheque to create a new, unauthorized cheque. Techniques used in this process include washing, laser printing, scanning and desk-top publishing.

Non-originated Counterfeit Cheques - non-originated counterfeit cheques made on new paper to create a new, unauthorized cheque. Techniques used in this process include laser printing, photocopying, scanning and desk-top publishing. This category also includes items where the MICR line has been altered.

Breach of Mandate – this involves payment of cheques which do not follow the original instructions or arrangements set up. That is, the cheque may require two signatories but the financial institution, through error, allows only one signatory. Other examples include a cheque drawn by a designated authority such as Financial Officer or Accountant and used for fraudulent purposes.

Deposit Fraud

Valueless - Covers cheques deposited to an account knowing that these cheques should not be honoured on presentation by the drawee financial institution as they are valueless (lack of funds), counterfeit, reported stolen, have been fraudulently altered or are in breach of mandate (e.g. do not contain required number of signatures).

Note: This category excludes customer cheques dishonoured or returned for lack of funds where cheques were drawn in error, that is, there was no intent to defraud.

Valueless: Kite Flying - the activity of depositing valueless cheques and making withdrawals against those valueless cheques, between accounts owned by the same person. Also called round robin transactions.

Third Party Conversion - this category includes unaltered cheques which have been deposited to an account other than the payee. This arises where the financial institution has made insufficient enquiry or verification of the depositor regarding their title to the cheque. It also includes cheques where there are two payees but the financial institution has allowed one payee to deposit the amount into their personal account without authority from the other payee.