ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. – The Elkhart Police Department is warning local check-cashing businesses to be on the lookout for individuals after they cashed in fake payroll checks.

These instances of fraud started on Oct. 22. Since then, businesses have lost thousands of dollars due to fake checks, according to officers.

 Police know that a few times, a large group of men entered the check cashing businesses together with checks from an RV company.

Businesses were later notified that the checks bounced and were fraudulent.

At this time, detectives are still investigating whether or not these incidents are connected and if the men who cashed in the fake checks used fake IDs too.

Elkhart Police want local merchants to be aware of this trend, particularly if your business cashes checks.

Merchants should be aware of:

• Large groups of people coming in together to cash payrolls checks, particularly checks from local RV companies.
• Individuals presenting an ID that looks suspicious or from counties that cannot be verified.
• Consider not cashing large checks to help mitigate losses if the check is deemed fraudulent.