The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and United States Postal Inspection Services (USPIS) issued a public service announcement that check fraud is increasing. Scammers are stealing legitimate checks from residential mailboxes and USPS collection boxes. According to the FBI and USPIS, this happens in several ways:
- Checks left in residential mailboxes overnight or for long periods
- Stealing mail from USPS’ blue collection boxes overnight
- Burglary of USPS facilities
- Robbery of USPS employees
- Bribery/collusion of USPS employees
Criminals use different techniques, such as check washing or check cooking, to use stolen checks. Others may try to forge the check and deposit it.
How to Protect Your Mail
- Pick up your mail promptly after delivery. Do not leave mail in your mailbox overnight or for long periods.
- If you are heading out of town, submit a USPS Hold Mail request asking your local post office to hold your mail until you return.
- Sign up for Informed Delivery at USPS.com to receive daily email notifications of incoming mail and packages.
- Contact the sender if you do not receive a check, credit card or other valuable mail you are expecting.
- Consider buying and using security envelopes to conceal the contents of your mail.
- Send mail using the letter slots inside your local post office. If you use a blue USPS collection box, drop your mail as close to the posted pickup time as possible and before the last collection of the day.
How to Protect Your Checks
- Use pens with permanent black ink so it is more difficult for a criminal to wash your checks.
- Don’t leave blank spaces in the payee or amount lines.
- Never write personal details, such as your Social Security number, credit card information, driver’s license number, or phone number on checks.
- Use mobile or online banking to access copies of your checks and ensure they are not altered. While logged in, review your bank activity and statements for errors.
- Consider using e-check, ACH automatic payments, and other electronic and/or mobile payments.
- Follow up with payees to make sure they received your check.
- Ask your financial institutions if they use Check Positive Pay to help detect and stop fraudulent checks.
- Use checks with security features to limit the effectiveness of check washing.
- If you believe you have been defrauded, contact your bank immediately. Consider opening a new account and closing out the compromised account to prevent future counterfeit checks from being drawn off the account.
- Protect and educate vulnerable members of your family and community. Scammers use high-tech, low-cost technology including printers, call spoofing technology, and AI-assisted voice recreation to fool vulnerable people into acting as unwitting accomplices.
If you think you were targeted by fraud, report it to your bank and ask for copies of any fraudulent checks. File a report with the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at www.ic3.gov. If you suspect mail theft is involved, contact your local law enforcement and the United States Postal Inspection Service at uspis.gov/report or 1-877-876-2455.
Resources: ic3.gov, and AgeWell Middle Tennessee
