Montana Lawyer August/September 2025

However, the client has still not paid the retainer. The attorney contacts the client, but unfortunately the client is on a business trip abroad and cannot make the transfer until they return - but promises to send funds within a week. As is the attorney’s general practice, they mail a copy of the executed attorney-client agreement to the client with a welcome letter. While the attorney awaits payment of the retainer, the debtor suddenly sends an email informing them that a check for partial payment is in the mail. The attorney con tacts the client to provide an update, noting that payment of that size is rarely transferred via paper check. The attorney requests wiring instructions from the client. The client instructs the attorney to deposit the check into their trust account for now and have the debtor wire the remainder after the check clears. A few days later, a check for partial payment of $897,000.00 arrives at the attorney’s office in a large certified-mail envelope postmarked in Atlanta, Georgia. The debtor, who tracked the check, immediately demands a receipt for the partial payment from the attorney. They oblige the debtor, but slowly, in the recesses of their mind, doubt begins to creep in. Why was this so easy? They ask themselves. After two years of defaulting on a near million dollar debt, why is the debtor now so eager to send payment without so much as a demand letter? The attorney takes a second look at the check be fore heading to the bank and notices that the payor is a Canadian bank. The check does not contain any water marks or holograms. However, it does have microprinting, a padlock icon, and a security screen. The attorney has never seen a check from a Canadian bank. “Maybe this is what Canadian checks look like?” The attorney thinks to themselves. It looks like a check, it feels like a check, and it smells like a check. Therefore, it’s a check and it’s safe to deposit into trust, right? Perhaps it needs a few extra days to clear? The attorney begins to consider the other data they have. The client is using a Gmail account. The debtor, a Hotmail account. Both use the same font and style of communica tion in their email communications. Public records indicate the client’s address is deeded to someone with a very similar name, only one letter difference that could be explained as a typo. Public records also show that the debtor’s name is listed at the provided address. This doesn’t explain the Atlanta postmark. The attorney determines that they need some expert advice on how to determine if the check is safe to deposit into their trust account. But who do they call? This scenario happened to me recently, and I was glad to have Brandon Dwyer, Vice President, Stockman Bank Branch Manager, available to provide me with the guidance I needed. After we had a brief phone call and I sent an email with an image of the check to Brandon, he and his team

quickly went to work. Within minutes they were able to determine that the check was likely fraudulent. Brandon says that “good counterfeiters are hard to catch, and luckily for us, most counterfeiters aren’t that good and give us plenty of clues to what they are up to.” His bank tellers are taught “to put their eyes in the places that matter on a check” and right away they can often flesh out a fraudulent check. Here are some common warning signs that a check may be fraudulent provided by Brandon: • A check that does not have a MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) line at the bottom of the draft. o The account number on a check and the routing number are typically printed with magnetic ink as opposed to standard printer ink. o MICR ink is dull and legitimate printing produces numbers that are flat on paper. It should not be shiny or feel raised. • A routing code in the MICR Line of the check that does not match the address of the drawee financial institution. o This is very common: routing numbers are easy to Google search and the results are usually accu rate. This is a quick way to confirm if the check in front of you doesn’t quite feel right. • A check on which the name and address of the drawee institution is typed, rather than printed (check for spelling errors there too!). o A legitimate check isn’t going to have a “non-branded” logo or institution name typed onto a check, but a fraudulent will. • A check that does not have a printed drawer name or address. o Another reason to pull up Google, even if the check has an address on it, if there is any reason to think it is not quite right, make sure that the institution name matches the address. • A check with a signature line that includes the title of the signatory. o You will commonly see a fraudster “sign” something like “Brandon Dwyer – CEO” when in reality no one adds their title to the signatory line. o They may also say “approved for pay ment” or “approved.” These are almost always frauds. • Foreign Checks. o If you are not knowingly doing business with a foreign citizen or company, a foreign check is a com mon way for fraudsters to confuse you with “international banking” to get you to do their bidding. • The back of the check has no printing on it (no place to sign, no watermark, no official bank language, etc.)

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