Thieves cashing in on trend of stolen mail checks
It's an emerging problem for customers paying their bills. People place checks in the mail box, expecting them to be picked up by a postal worker, only to have them fall into the hands of criminals.
Posted — UpdatedA lot of money is on the line. Tens of thousands of dollars are tied to thefts from Southern Pines to Raleigh to Cary.
People are popping checks in the mailbox, expecting them to be picked up by a postal worker, only to have them fall into the hands of criminals.
"I had to do a double take," Leskovec said. "Because I felt secure in this neighborhood for a long time, and this kind of opened my eyes."
Instead, it wound up here, at this bank off Falls of Neuse Road in Raleigh, in the hands of a thief.
"Over $3,000 was taken out of my checking account with this check," he said.
"I felt violated," he said.
In Southern Pines, police report a spike in check thefts from mailboxes. New numbers provided to WRAL show there have been at least six such thefts since Jan. 19.
Police say in a normal year, they’d only see one or two.
In Raleigh, police said check thefts have been a consistent issue, especially since a postal worker’s master key was stolen last year.
Now police say there are specific steps you can take here to protect yourself.
If you are going to mail a check, always go inside and hand it directly to a postal worker or use the inside drop box.
Also, use a gel pen to fill out your checks. That ink can’t be washed off.
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