Consumers are being warned about an increase in check fraud tied to mail theft, following a joint alert from federal law enforcement agencies.
Criminals are stealing mail from residential mailboxes and blue collection boxes at post offices, sometimes through theft, robbery, or insider involvement. Stolen checks may be altered through a process known as “check washing,” in which common household chemicals are used to change the payee name or dollar amount. In other cases, checks are fraudulently signed and deposited without being altered.
Because federal regulations often require financial institutions to make funds available before checks have fully cleared, account holders and banks may not discover the fraud until after the money has already been withdrawn.
Consumers can lower their risk by promptly picking up incoming mail and using indoor mail slots at post offices for sending checks.
Additional precautions include writing checks with indelible black ink, avoiding blank spaces on payee and amount lines, and clearly completing all fields. When possible, electronic payment methods such as online bill pay, ACH automatic payments, and mobile payment services are recommended as safer alternatives to paper checks.