FRAUDULENT CHEQUES.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 February 1921, Page 4

FRAUDULENT CHEQUES.

If such organisations as' the Taranaki Employers’ Association are to be of value to the trading community they must create a keen interest in every phase of business procedure, and aim at disseminating knowledge that will be of service in advocating the interests of those engaged in business. The address delivered by Mr. C. H. Weston at the quarterly meeting of the Association on Monday evening is an example of how business men can be enlightened on matters affecting their welfare, besides affording an example of the useful work such associations can accomplish. The public are equally interested in the efficacy of safeguards that are essential tc employers, for the reason that trade losses have to be passed on to the consumer, so that the smaller the losses the less the public should have to pay for their commodities. A constant danger to which business people are exposed is that whereby' goods are obtained by fraud, and in this connectionvalueless cheques play a large part Scarcely a day passes without instances of such frauds being in evidence, sometimes as the result of carelessness, but mostly by design. It has become quite a common practice for unscrupulous persons to obtain cheques openly or surreptitiously, fill in a round sum, obtain goods for less—much less, sometimes—than that represented on the worthless cheque, the remainder being taken away in cash. Practically such frauds are closely allied to what is known as the “confidence trick.” They have been so persistently practiced that’it would be thought the game was played out. Not so, however, for fresh victims are frequency caught. This species of crime would be extinguished and business people saved loss if steps were taken by the employers and other similar associations to put an end to negotiating such cheques, except in cases when the person offering a cheque is known as the drawer thereof, and his financial standing beyond question, or he can be properly vouched for by a responsible person.