  The alteration of the figures and amount written on a cheque is generally effected by erasure. At one time chemicals were used for this purpose, but fortunately the modern cheque is forgery-proof in this respect. No means are known to chemists by which ordinary writing can be removed from a cheque without leaving a sign too pronounced to escape detection. But even erasure on a cheque is extremely difficult, and the experienced eye of the average bank teller can detect it in the vast majority of cases. Frauds perpetrated by this means are very rare, and are usually the result of gross carelessness on the part of the person accepting the document so altered. The more frequent form of cheque fraud is effected by adding to such words as six, seven, eight and nine. The addition of ty and y is all that is necessary. But the ordinarily careful business man never leaves sufficient blank space between his words to admit of this addition, while there are few bank tellers who do not carefully scrutinise a cheque made out for these larger amounts. It may be accepted as a satisfactory fact that cheque forgery is not only extremely difficult, but rarely successful. Great frauds are usually perpetrated by means of other instruments, such as bills of exchange, credit notes, &c. An erasure is the easiest thing to detect if looked for. To begin with it is only necessary to hold a scratched document to the light to have the alteration revealed. Erasing must of necessity remove part of the surface of the paper which is made noticeably thinner at the spot erased. In nearly every case the writing that has been added to the erasure is blurred, owing to the rough and absorbent character of the paper. Expert forgers have devised means of counteracting this by rubbing in some substance which partially restores the original smoothness and mitigates the blurred appearance. But such devices ought not to be successful for they are so easily detected. As a matter of fact the only chance the forger of an erased cheque has lies in the carelessness of the teller. Any crowding of words and unequal spacing in the filling up of a cheque ought to excite suspicion and provoke careful and closer scrutiny, and, it may be added, it generally does. The addition of letters intended to increase the value of a number, such as the adding of ty to six or seven, is easy of detection if properly looked for. It is safe to assume that the addition has been made long after the original word was written, and the point of junction can be detected by the aid of a good glass. Had the word been originally written sixty, the chances are that there would be no perceptible break between the x and the t. Few persons write such short words in a disconnected manner. On placing the word under an ordinary glass the point of junction will be plainly apparent, and a microscope, or an enlarged photograph, cannot fail to reveal the fraud. Of course these latter tests will not be possible under the ordinary circumstances attending the paying out of a cheque over the counter, but when once the peculiarities of such alterations have been studied, it is marvellous how quick the eye becomes in recognizing them at a glance. Erasure in writings on stout thick paper is not quite so readily noticed as those on thin paper such as cheques; but the same methods of examination will apply—holding the document to the light, or level with and horizontal to the eye. A very effective application of the latter test is to bend or curve the paper, making an arch. The bending has a tendency to stretch and widen the erased part, and if any smoothing substance such as starch or wax has been added |
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