To know if a check is good before depositing it, inspect its physical security features, call the issuing bank using a phone number you look up yourself (not the one printed on the check), and understand that even after your bank makes the money available, the check may not have actually cleared for days or weeks. That last point is where most people lose money: federal rules force banks to release funds on a fixed schedule that runs faster than the real clearing process, so a counterfeit check can feel legitimate long enough for you to spend the money and end up owing it back.
Inspect the Check in Your Hand
Authentic checks are printed on specialized stock with layered security features that are hard to reproduce with standard office equipment. Start at the bottom edge. The line of characters there is the Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) line, printed in magnetic ink using a standardized font called E-13B, and it encodes the routing number, account number, and check number.1National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Print Specifications for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition The characters should feel slightly raised and look uniform and matte. Flat, glossy, or unevenly spaced characters suggest a photocopy or digital reproduction.
Look for microprinting. From arm’s length it reads as a thin line, usually along the signature line or the borders, but under magnification it resolves into tiny words. A scanner or photocopier degrades microprinting into dots or blurs, so a counterfeit fails this test.
Hold the check up to a light. Genuine check stock carries a watermark embedded in the paper fibers during manufacture, visible from both sides. A printed image is not a watermark. Check the edges too: high-quality check stock has at least one perforated edge where the check was separated from a book or ledger. A check with cleanly cut edges on all four sides is a warning.
Some business and official checks include heat-sensitive (thermochromic) ink that changes color when you rub it between your fingers and reverts within seconds. That effect can’t be photocopied. Cashier’s checks and other official bank checks often add security threads and color-shifting ink similar to what you’d find on currency.2FDIC.gov. Beware of Fake Checks If a cashier’s check for a large sum lacks most of these features, treat it as suspect no matter how official it looks.
Call the Issuing Bank the Right Way
The most reliable way to confirm a check is real is to call the bank that supposedly issued it. Here is where most people make a serious mistake: they dial the phone number printed on the check itself. Scammers print working numbers that connect to accomplices who cheerfully confirm the check is valid. Look the bank’s customer service number up independently on its official website or through a trusted directory.
Once you reach the bank, a representative or automated system will typically ask for the account number and the exact dollar amount on the check. The check number lets them match it against internal records. They can tell you whether the account exists, is active, and holds enough money at that moment. What they cannot promise is that the money will still be there when your bank presents the check for payment days later. A balance that looks good on Monday can be empty by Wednesday. Verification is a snapshot, not a guarantee.
For cashier’s checks, use the same approach and ask the issuing bank to confirm it actually issued a cashier’s check with that specific number, date, and amount. Counterfeit cashier’s checks are among the most common tools in fraud schemes precisely because people assume anything with a bank’s name on it is guaranteed.2FDIC.gov. Beware of Fake Checks
The Scam Pattern to Watch For
Most fake-check losses follow the same script: overpayment. Someone sends you a check for more than the agreed amount and asks you to wire back the difference. The story is always plausible. It was an accounting error, the extra covers shipping, you need to forward a portion to a third party. The check eventually bounces, but by then you’ve already sent real money out of your own account that you can’t recover.3Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Fake Check Scams
The scheme works because of the timing gap between fund availability and actual clearing. Your bank makes part of the deposit available within a day or two, which makes the check feel legitimate. You withdraw and send. Days or weeks later the check returns as counterfeit, and your bank reverses the entire deposit. The same pattern shows up in online marketplace sales, fake job offers that require you to “purchase supplies,” and prize notifications that require you to “cover taxes.” Anyone asking you to deposit a check and send part of the proceeds elsewhere is running this scam. There is no legitimate version of that request.
Available Funds Are Not Cleared Funds
Federal law dictates how quickly your bank must let you access deposited funds, and the schedule creates a dangerous illusion. The Expedited Funds Availability Act and its implementing rule, Regulation CC, require banks to release funds on a fixed timeline regardless of whether the check has actually cleared.4eCFR. 12 CFR Part 229 – Availability of Funds and Collection of Checks (Regulation CC) Available funds are not verified funds. That distinction is the single most exploited gap in consumer banking.
As of July 1, 2025, the first $275 of any check deposit must be available by the next business day.5eCFR. 12 CFR 229.11 – Adjustment of Dollar Amounts The rest follows a schedule tied to the type of check:
- Local checks: full amount available by the second business day after deposit.4eCFR. 12 CFR Part 229 – Availability of Funds and Collection of Checks (Regulation CC)
- Nonlocal checks: full amount available by the fifth business day after deposit.4eCFR. 12 CFR Part 229 – Availability of Funds and Collection of Checks (Regulation CC)
- Government checks, cashier’s checks, and certified checks: generally next-business-day availability for the full amount.
None of that tells you the check is real. A counterfeit cashier’s check can satisfy next-day availability and still be identified as fraudulent weeks later, at which point your bank will claw the deposit back out of your account.
Regulation CC does let banks place extended holds in specific situations, and those holds are worth paying attention to when they happen. Deposits over $6,725 in aggregate on a single banking day can be held longer, with the excess above $6,725 held up to five additional business days for local checks and six for nonlocal checks.6eCFR. 12 CFR 229.13 – Exceptions Accounts open fewer than 30 days can see amounts over $6,725 held up to nine business days. Redeposited checks, accounts with a pattern of overdrafts, and situations where the bank has specific, articulable facts suggesting a check won’t clear can also trigger extended holds. If your bank places one and sends you the required notice, treat it as useful information: the bank sees something that gives it pause, and you should too.
How Long to Actually Wait
Because availability is not the same as clearing, the safe move with any check from a stranger, a new business relationship, or any transaction involving wiring money back is to wait well past the availability date before treating the funds as yours. A returned counterfeit can come back days or weeks after deposit. If you cannot afford to lose the amount of the check, do not spend any of the deposit until you have both verified with the issuing bank (using a phone number you looked up yourself) and given the check enough time to fully clear. When in doubt, ask your bank directly when the check has cleared as opposed to when the funds are available. Those are different questions with different answers.
If You Already Deposited a Bad Check
Contact your bank immediately. Ask them to flag the deposit and, if the funds haven’t been released yet, place a hold to prevent further loss. The bank will reverse the deposit once the check is returned unpaid. If you’ve already withdrawn or spent any of those funds, you owe the bank back regardless of whether you knew the check was fake. That reversal can push your account into the negative and trigger overdraft fees.
The consequences can outlast the immediate loss. If your bank closes your account for suspected fraud involvement, that involuntary closure gets reported to screening databases like ChexSystems or Early Warning Services. Other banks check these databases when you apply for a new account, and a fraud flag can result in denials for up to five years.7Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Helping Consumers Who Have Been Denied Checking Accounts Even an unpaid negative balance from a bounced check, with no fraud suspicion attached, can appear on your record for up to seven years.
Report the scam. The FTC accepts fraud reports through its website, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service handles checks that arrived by mail, and your state attorney general’s office handles local enforcement.3Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Fake Check Scams Federal bank fraud carries penalties of up to 30 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1344 – Bank Fraud Those penalties target the scammer, but investigators will want to rule you out as a participant, so cooperating fully and promptly matters.