The U.S. Postal Inspection Service as well as the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued advisories relating to recent surges in check fraud.
Fraudsters are stealing paper checks from the U.S. Mail by targeting blue U.S. Postal Service (USPS) collection boxes as well as personal (home) mailboxes. There has also been an uptick in thefts of checks by USPS employees who work at mail collection and processing facilities.
Fraudsters are utilizing check washing methods to alter the stolen checks. In this scheme, they change the payee, check number and often the dollar amount of the check. They then utilize fraudulent identities to deposit checks and steal money from your account. In some cases, stolen checks are also counterfeited using routing and account information from the original check.
Do’s and Don’ts on How to Protect Yourselves and your Business:
- DO utilize electronic or mobile payments when possible. This will reduce the number of checks you write.
- DO consider subscribing to a third-party automated check-fraud detection tool, such as Positive Pay available through EagleBank. Contact your branch or relationship manager for applicable fees and additional information.
- DO consider enrolling in USPS Informed Delivery. Informed Delivery is a free service from USPS that shows you a preview of images of incoming mail, as well as status updates about your incoming and outbound packages.
- DO exercise caution when using blue U.S. Postal Service mailboxes or other drop boxes to send mail.
- DO review your bank activity and statements for errors.
- DON’T let mail sit in your mailbox at home. Try to retrieve it as soon as possible. Utilize mail stops when on vacation or away for extended periods of time.
- DON’T leave blank spaces in the payee or amount lines of the checks you write.
Contact the United States Postal Inspection Service if you’ve been scammed: uspis.gov/report