Haha ok this is why I know im right over everybody.
This is John Smiths Check.
-In pay to box, he writes "cash" This is so he can get himself some cash, perhaps in lieu of using his ATM card. Unless the teller knows him super well, he signs the bottom "John Smith", also endorses the back, and in my experience, with ID, they give you cash, akin to an ATM transaction. Fraud would not be advised with this method.
-At my bank, you can also simply endorse the check "John Smith", swipe your ATM card, and cash. Again, hard to carry out a fraud in this case. Even with friendly tellers, you have to provide some sort of other ID, like a PIN number or something.
-Sign it over to yourself, and then cash it. This is not advised.
All of this is on camera as well. So... I can't really imagine a situation where this could possibly work.