By Michael V. Cusenza
Check fraud is on the rise, with a significant volume enabled through mail theft, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Postal Inspection Service warned.
According to the agencies, Suspicious Activity Reports related to check fraud have nearly doubled from 2021 to 2023. Fraudsters take advantage of regulations requiring financial institutions to make check funds available within specified timeframes, which is often too short a window for the consumer or financial institutions to identify and stop the fraud. As a result, the compromised checks clear, and the funds are withdrawn by the criminal participants before the fraud is detected.
Fraudsters gain access to legitimate checks and sensitive financial data by stealing mailed checks from U.S. Postal Service facilities or during delivery to the intended recipient. Check theft occurs several ways:
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A significant volume of check fraud cases are enabled through mail theft.
- Checks left in residential mailboxes overnight or for long periods of time
- USPS blue collection boxes after the last pickup time; this usually involves “mail fishing,” a federal crime in which envelopes containing checks and sensitive documents with information such as bank, credit card, and Social Security numbers are “fished out” of curbside mailboxes by crafty crooks using makeshift tools
- Burglary of USPS facilities
- Robbery of USPS employees
- Bribery/collusion of USPS employees
Protect Your Mail
- Pick up your mail promptly after delivery. Do not leave mail in your mailbox overnight or for long periods of time.
- 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.
- Use the letter slots inside your local Post Office to send mail. If using a blue USPS collection box, be sure to drop your mail as close to the posted pickup time as possible and before the last collection of the day.
Protect Your Checks
- Use pens with indelible 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.
- Don’t 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.
- Use check positive pay if available at financial institutions to help detect and stop fraudulent checks.
- 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, security screens, thermal thumbprints, void pantographs, ultraviolet overprinting, security padlock icon, and fraud warnings.
- 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 being drawn off the account.
- Protect vulnerable members of your family and community. Fraudsters 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.
