I wonder if you could argue that that wasn't a valid cheque to the bank then. But then you'd be saying you were claiming fraud against yourself, so somehow you'd still end up the one in trouble.

Probably not. The Clinton-era law that relaxed check verification rules so that we could deposit checks remotely online moved a lot of the burden onto the consumer instead of the bank. That was one of the reasons it was opposed so loudly by consumer groups.