There is another method, mainly used by moneylenders. This is usually when the payee does not have a bank account. Thus if someone gets a cheque for a tax rebate but has no bank account, he takes it to a moneylender, signs the back, the moneylender gives him the cash, minus his fee, then pays it into his own account. There are arrangements to do this between banks and certain organisations. This could possibly have happened to you if the cheque has been intercepted.