d
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 microscop