That's a good question. I have heard from two different local news sources (one is the local NPR station, the other I don't remember specifically but it was as trustworthy as any news source is these days) that this crime is "on the rise" but it doesn't say if that means 3 people out of a million were affected this month instead of just 2, or if it's now as bad as catalytic converter thefts or something.

Anybody who hires small time contractors, has a landlord who hasn't upgraded to electronic payments, or wants to send a sizeable amount of money to a family member. I hate writing checks and I avoid it whenever I can, but as a homeowner I have to write checks to pay my property taxes at a bare minimum, and whenever I hire an excavator, plumber, or other tradesperson there is a good chance they are going to want a check or cash.

This is what I thought; it's not new but the news says these crimes are on the rise.

Everybody talks about making avoiding mailing checks, not using the big blue mail boxes, etc. but none of the stories I have seen mention anything about how to ensure the bank refunds your money they fraudulently gave away.

Not by the owner of the account though. That is part of what I am curious about I guess, since checks have a ton of anti-fraud features specifically to prevent this kind of thing. The bank should be able to tell the check was modified.