Woman Arrested For Forged Check at Los Gatos Safeway's Wells Fargo Branch

A 21-year-old woman was arrested and booked into Santa Clara County Jail early this month after she tried to cash a forged check at the Los Gatos Safeway's Wells Fargo Branch, 15543 Union Ave.

According to Los Gatos/Monte Sereno police, the woman approached a teller at the branch at about 6:20 p.m. Sept. 4 with the forged check and attempted to cash it using her own California identification card and a newly opened Wells Fargo account in her name.

An astute bank manager then contacted the account holder on the check who confirmed that it was forged, police said.

When her attempt to cash the forged check failed, police contacted her leaving the bank and she admitted to attempting to cash the forged check she said a friend had given to her.

According to the National Check Fraud Center, forms of check fraud include:

• Forged signatures: legitimate blank checks with an imitation of the payor signature;
• Forged endorsements: often involves the use of a stolen check, which is then endorsed and cashed or deposited by someone other than the payee;
• Counterfeit checks: due to the advancement in color copying and desktop publishing capabilities, this is the fastest-growing source of fraudulent checks today;
• Altered checks: information on a legitimate check, such as payee or check amount, changed to benefit the perpetrator;
• Check kitting: the process of depositing a check in one bank account into a second bank account without the sufficient funds to cover it.