São Paulo, 2/18/2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The number of false, cloned or stolen checks has doubled in the last two years in Brazil. Last year a total of 49 million checks bounced and 980,000 were false, cloned or stolen. In 2001, the latter number was 410,000.

Without a doubt, checks that bounce are a headache for the people who receive them. But false, cloned or stolen checks can also become a big problem for the owner of the checks. Their names can get besmirched and, to make matters worse, banks will honor false checks - by paying them (that's the law!) - which translates into a material loss for the owner.

According to the Federation of Banks, the best cure is prevention. Care should be taken when using and filling out checks. (AB)