30 GEARS April 2004

In my last article, I wrote about howI was dealing with several prob-lems. Business was slow, and thework barely trickled in. This createdcash flow problems, but it wasnt theonly problem we were having.

Other major issues were come-backs, and what seemed to be a com-munication disconnect between meand my technicians. Fortunately,though, I can report that we have beenable to make significant headway inworking through those problems, andare heading in the right direction. Imade more of an effort to communicatewith my technicians, and enlist theirhelp in identifying the issues that wereleading to the problems we were hav-ing. I feel as though we were able toestablish a greater level of commitmentfrom my techs, and Im confident wereon the path to turning things around.

I believe the hard work and com-mitment from my guys was far moreresponsible for the positive change thanwere my own efforts. One thing I knowis that at least for now, things seem tobe working out, and our recent level ofproduction has been going great.

Looking back at the time I wasinvolved in my familys business, themonth of December was always a con-cern. It seemed as though between thetime taken off by employees, and a sea-sonal slow-down of business, themonth did little to improve our cash-flow. This year, however, business wasgreat, and actually turned out to be myrecord month for sales. We exceededthe 40K barrier, and things seemed tobe moving along smoothly.

This feeling of satisfaction didnt

carry over very well into the new year.In fact, on January 6, it bottomed outwith a loud thump.

It started out innocently enoughwith a phone call, but this caller was abearer of bad news. It was a representa-tive from my banks fraud unit, whoexplained that my checking accountwas indicating some suspicious activi-ty; specifically, some of the checks hadnumbers that were out of sequence.After quickly gathering some of myfinancial records, and making a fewphone calls, it became obvious thatsomeone had somehow gotten mychecking account number, and wascashing counterfeit checks.

Thank God they have the means tomonitor checking accounts, but by thetime I was able to get to the bank, over$2,000 in counterfeit checks had beencashed. I can tell you that at this point,I was seriously stressed, but the bankrepresentative assured me all was undercontrol, and they knew exactly how todeal with this. His words gave me somepeace of mind, but in reality, my prob-lems were just beginning.

They put a hold on my checkingaccount. They asked for a list of goodchecks that were still outstanding, sothey could pay them while monitoringthe account for any bad checks that maybe presented. They also put a blanketstop-payment order on any checks thatwerent listed on my good list. Forfurther protection, I also opened a newaccount, signed a couple of papers, andwas told to stop by the next day to signaffidavits that attested to the fraud.

The next day I went back to thebranch and signed the papers they pre-

sented. I also asked them if I shouldcontact the police and file a report.Much to my surprise, I was told thatwould probably create more work forus, and was not needed. Although I wasa bit skeptical, I decided they probablyknew best.

Wrong.As it turned out, I not only should

have gone to the police to file a report,but all the paperwork the bank did wasdone incorrectly, and it took me over aweek to find this out. On top of that,the bank refused payment on fourchecks that were listed on my goodlist, and honored another bogus check.This was a real headache for me, sincetwo of these checks were payrollchecks. The fact that my bank mishan-dled this problem was very frustrating.

I went to the bank and had a meet-ing with one of their representatives. Iwas upset and agitated, and emphatical-ly explained the negative impact theirmistake created. What I really wantedto do was reach across that desk and well, you can imagine. As Ive grownolder, I thought I had learned to be a lit-tle more cool-headed. I suppose thishappens to us all, but at this moment, Iwas twenty years old again, and notexercising the best of interpersonalcommunication skills. I eventuallycooled off enough to make my point but not before I gave him an ear full.

Well, like all problems weencounter in life, I knew this one wouldpass. It has, but not without providingme with a valuable lesson. Every per-son, and every business, needs to pro-tect sensitive information that couldresult in identity theft or, as in my

by Ray Warner

JourneyJourneyPART 12MyMy

A Valuable Lesson

my journey prt12.qxd 3/9/04 9:24 AM Page 30

GEARS April 2004 31

case, check fraud. I was recently invited by a friend to

attend a Rotary meeting. A representa-tive from our local police departmentwas at the meeting, and he talked aboutthis problem. I have started to followsome of his suggestions and advice,such as using the Internet for banking.A real benefit to this is that I can moni-tor my checking account on a dailybasis, and look for any counterfeitchecks that may have cleared. Now,when I pay a parts driver or anyone elsefor that matter, I put the check in asealed envelope. I have told my ven-dors that if an envelope arrives to themopened, I want to know about it.

I have also started to pay somebills electronically. These steps mayseem drastic, but they are not hard to

implement, and they really are effectivein protecting your business. In mycase, whoever defrauded my accountknew me, my account number, address,type of check I use, and had accuratelyreproduced my signature. I have noidea who did this, but I do know that Iwas probably the one that handed acheck to this person, and gave him theopportunity to do what he did.

I always thought that this type ofthing happened to other people, not me.I certainly dont want to becomeobsessed with protecting myself, butIm smarter now, and will take the stepsnecessary to lower my risk of this hap-pening again. Till next time .

Indentity Theft

Ray Warners experience with a stolen or counterfeit check is one of manyforms of theft that has its roots in a growing criminal endeavor called identitytheft. As the name implies, its your identity in various forms that allows atheft to be committed. Safeguard those forms of your identity, and you reduce theodds of becoming a victim. First, a few points on how criminals obtain your per-sonal or business information: The most common source for recovering information is your trash. Bank and

credit card statements, deposit slips, tax information, and discarded creditcard or loan offers often contain information you dont want made public.

Phone scams unsolicited calls from sources that request your personal data toconfirm your identity, needed for any number of reasons. Also common arecalls from officials of the IRS or some other government agency, seekinginformation. Thats not how they conduct business.

Unsolicited e-mail offers for free credit reports, or notifications of having won acontest available only if you provide certain personal information to confirmyour identification.

How can you protect yourself and your business? Invest in an inexpensive paper shredder, and use it to destroy discarded infor-

mation of the type indicated above. Do not respond to any unsolicited phone inquiries, regardless of the stated

nature. Conduct Internet commerce only through resources that encrypt data. When in

doubt; dont. Keep your business or personal checkbook, and the extra checks, in a secure

place. Thieves often only take a few checks from a pad usually from thebottom of your current book, or from those kept for future use, so their loss isnot immediately recognized.

Delete all spam e-mail, or unfamiliar e-mail, without opening.

No method of self-protection is absolutely fool-proof, but by following a fewbasic steps, you can go a long way towards protecting yourself.

my journey prt12.qxd 3/9/04 9:24 AM Page 31