Identity theft is the one of most common crimes in the United States.

DuPont Community Bank Financial Manager David Snyder says, "Tellers here at DuPont Community Credit Union are trained to look for anything on a check that doesn't match up with the ID, that doesn't match up with the person that’s trying to cash the check."

However, that apparently didn't happen when a total of five stolen checks ended up at the DuPont Community Credit Union after being deposited by a group of men running a check scam ring in Verona.

Scam victim Howard McNeal explains, "So they called us to the bank and there were like four or five checks written for a little less than $1,000 each."

After the bank found out about the mistake with the McNeal’s checks, they took a hard look at their policies.

Snyder says, "Anytime we have an issue at DuPont Community Credit Union, we typically review the policies and from a staff development standpoint, make sure that all employees here are on the same page and there is consistency within the organization."

The bank says anyone who comes in now needs to have identification on them.

"We always recommend that members carry valid identification because that’s going to be asked for when they do a banking transaction," comments Snyder.

The bank says, because scams such as this one, occur so frequently and identity theft if so rampant, it's a good idea for people to take steps to protect themselves. McNeal explains what he plans on doing.

He says, "We've also taken a step to put a password on all of our accounts, which is another step you can do to make it a little bit harder for criminals to steal your id or your checks or whatever."

A number of other banks in the Valley say they too ask for identification and stress educating the public about identity fraud.