How Do You Verify a U.S. Treasury Check?
Verify U.S. Treasury checks online at TCVA.FMS.Treas.gov, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury website. Click the Check Verification link on the left side of the Web page, then enter the routing transit number, check number and check amount, and click Verify. Alternatively, call 800-826-9434 with check questions.
As of 2015, valid U.S. Treasury checks may include a Treasury seal reflecting the words “Bureau of the Fiscal Service,” notes the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Not all checks display the seal, but for those that do, the seal appears to the right of the Statue of Liberty on the upper left side of the check. The seal contains security ink that runs and turns red upon application of moisture.
Valid U.S. Treasury checks contain microprinting in three areas that appear as lines unless the writing is magnified, explains the U.S. Department of the Treasury. On a counterfeit Treasury check, the lines can appear as a series of dots or a solid line. Copy machines cannot duplicate microprinting.
The U.S. Treasury Department uses watermarked paper to print all official U.S. Treasury checks, advises the website. Individuals can view the watermark, which reads “U.S. TREASURY,” from the front and back of the check when they hold it up to a light. A copy machine cannot reproduce the watermark, which is light in color.
Ultraviolet overprinting also appears on all Treasury checks, indicates the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The overprinting is an invisible pattern consisting of four lines that contain the letters “FMS” or the words “FISCALSERVICE” as well as a Treasury seal. Black light causes the pattern and seal to glow.
