NCJ Number
90322
Date Published
1980
Length
128 pages
Annotation
In 1971, Sweden passed laws requiring merchants to obtain verifying identification before accepting a personal check and banks to remove guarantees covering fraudulent checks written on customers' accounts. Analysis of statistics for 1970 and 1975 indicates the laws were very effective in reducing check fraud.
Abstract
The analysis involved not only crime statistics, which showed a drop of 60 percent in the number of incidents reported and 38 percent in the number of persons convicted of check fraud from 1970 to 1975, but also data on the kinds of persons involved and their other criminal activity. One of the fears expressed by many groups opposed to the passage of the law was that enacting tough controls on check cashing would cause perpetrators (largely drug abusers) to turn to other, more violent crimes to obtain money. Study results did not bear this out. Statistics show that persons convicted of check fraud in 1975 committed more serious crimes, particularly violent crime, than those convicted of check fraud in 1970. Check fraud appeared to be more of a crime of opportunity for this group, and did not necessarily lead to more serious crimes. A turn to burglary and robbery was not indicated. Both groups had, to a large extent, a history of drug abuse and were already criminally active before the check fraud incidents. History of the 1971 laws, lobbied for by the police and against by many merchant, banking, and other groups, is given, as is background on the dramatically increasing check fraud rates in the 1960's. Study data are included in tables.