The careful "consulting all people involved" verification that you'd
jolly-well
better perform before you accept any
paper financial-instrument from anyone, especially if the document is "signed over" to you by the document's original payee!
Performing a two-party
check is vital to maintain your financial integrity, not only because you might not get paid, but also because you could get hit with a returned-
check fee and other legal hassles if the
check is either drawn on an account with insufficient finds or is written without the account-owner's authorization.