FBI and Postal Service: Mail-theft related check fraud is increasing

The FBI and United States Postal Inspection Service have issued a joint alert about an increase in check fraud due to mail theft; reports doubled from 2021 to 2023. The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network received reports of mail-theft related check fraud totaling almost $700 million in one six-month period in 2023; the average was $44,774.

Mail-theft related check fraud occurs in several ways:

• Theft of checks left in residential mailboxes overnight or for long periods of time.
• Theft from USPS blue collection boxes after the last pickup time.
• Burglary of USPS facilities.
• Robbery of USPS employees.
• Bribery or collusion of USPS employees.

Check washing involves using chemicals to alter the payee and/or amount on a stolen check. Check cooking involves the digital manipulation of the image of a check using readily available photo editing software and high-tech printers. Some stolen checks are simply fraudulently signed and deposited.

Federal regulations require financial institutions to make funds available before many checks clear. Consumers and financial institutions often don’t have enough time to identify and stop fraudulent checks before the crooks withdraw the funds. In many cases, the account holder and financial institution don’t learn about the fraud until after the funds have been withdrawn.

The Maryville, Tennessee, police department received 13 reports of mail-related check fraud between May and July last year. Individual losses ranged from $1900 to over $17,000 and total losses were more than $81,000.

The USPS recommends that you pick up incoming mail promptly after delivery and use letter slots inside your local Post Office for outgoing mail. If you use a blue USPS collection box, be sure to drop off your mail as close to the posted pickup time as possible and before the last collection of the day. If you’re going out of town, have your mail held by your local Post Office.

Sign up for the USPS’ Informed Delivery service at USPS.com to receive daily email notifications of incoming mail and packages. Consider using security envelopes to conceal the contents of your outgoing mail and contact the sender quickly if you don’t receive a check, credit card, or other valuable mail you’re expecting.

The government agencies and BBB offer these tips to protect your checks:

• Use pens with indelible black ink to make it more difficult for a criminal to wash your checks.
• Don’t leave blank spaces in the payee or amount lines.
• Don’t write personal details, such as your Social Security number or credit card information, on checks.
• Use mobile or online banking to access copies of your checks and ensure they’re not altered. 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.
• Use check positive pay if available at financial institutions to help detect and stop fraudulent checks (we instituted this service at the BBB after a $9,500 fraudulent check cleared our account).
• Use checks with security features to limit the effectiveness of check washing. Security features can include microprinting, holograms, heat-sensitive ink, watermarks, toner adhesion, chemically reactive paper, thermal thumbprints, and a security padlock icon.

Contact your financial institution immediately if you think you’ve been a victim of check fraud.