Saward required blank cheques and told his accomplices to spread a rumor that they would pay well for stolen cheques; pickpockets usually threw them away as useless. If he got used cheques into his hands, he could try to imitate the signature. If the holder of the account had a special signature he used only in his cheques, Saward sent an accomplice to acquire a copy. One solicitor was fooled by asking him to collect a debt; Saward got the signature when he paid the debt minus his commission by a cheque.