Recognizing a Fraudulent Check

What is a Fractional?

A fractional is used to determine the financial institution of the share draft if the MICR line is ever damaged or torn off:

• 2 digit city and state prefix pre-assigned by “Accuity” (in the example, the prefix is 25 – see red below)

• Digits 5-8 of the routing number and transit number indicating the institution identifier (in the example, this is 5678 – see blue below.)

• First 4 digits of the routing and transit number indicating the Federal Reserve district (in the example, this is 1234 – see green below.)

A fractional can be used as a fraud detection tool. The information in the fractional should always match the information in the MICR line. The check shown below is a fraud. The state code “56” should be used, instead of “25,” which is a city code. See State Codes.

Elements of a Check

Federal Reserve Perforation – Look for at least one perforated side on the check

Bank address – The address of the bank should correspond to the appropriate Federal Reserve District. For example, if you receive a check drawn in California, the routing/transit number generally should depict the Twelfth Federal Reserve District (12). Note, however, that some banks with offices in several Federal Reserve Districts are using a routing/transit number for one Federal Reserve District and a bank address in a different Federal Reserve District.

District and Office - The first two digits of field of field 5, the routing/transit number in the MICR line, indicates the Federal Reserve District.

Federal Reserve Districts

01	Boston	07	Chicago
02	New York	08	St. Louis
03	Philadelphia	09	Minneapolis
04	Cleveland	10	Kansas City
05	Richmond	11	Dallas
06	Atlanta	12	San Francisco

The third digit indicates the particular District Office. As an example, in the Sixth District, the numbers and offices are:

District Offices (Sixth District)

1	Atlanta	4	Nashville
2	Birmingham	5	New Orleans
3	Jacksonville	6	Miami

State Codes

Eastern		Southeastern
50	New York	60	Pennsylvania
51	Connecticut	61	Alabama
52	Maine	62	Delaware
53	Massachusetts	63	Florida
54	New Hampshire	64	Georgia
55	New Jersey	65	Maryland
56	Ohio	66	North Carolina
57	Rhode Island	67	South Carolina
58	Vermont	68	Virginia
59	Hawaii**	69	West Virginia
Southwestern		Western
80	Missouri	90	California
81	Arkansas	91	Arizona
82	Colorado	92	Idaho
83	Kansas	93	Montana
84	Louisiana	94	Nevada
85	Mississippi	95	New Mexico
86	Oklahoma	96	Oregon
87	Tennessee	97	Utah
88	Texas	98	Washington
89	Alaska*	99	Wyoming
		101	Territories and Dependencies*

Central
70	Illinois
71	Indiana
72	Iowa
73	Kentucky
74	Michigan
75	Minnesota
76	Nebraska
77	North Dakota
78	South Dakota
79	Wisconsin

 

*State prefixes for Alaska, Hawaii, and Territories and Dependencies are listed numerically under the corresponding region. They are not, however, geographically located in that region.