BURLINGTON – Chief Thomas P. Browne and the Burlington Police Department report that the Department has received several recent reports of checks being taken out of the mail, altered, and then used fraudulently.
All of the victims who have contacted Burlington Police report that they mailed envelopes containing checks in their mailboxes, and lifted the red flag on the mailbox indicating mail was waiting to be picked up. Checks were taken from the mailboxes from June 20 to July 7.
The checks were then altered and deposited by unknown suspects.
Reports of the thefts were centered in the Fox Hill Road area.
“If you reside in the Fox Hill Road area and have mailed any checks using the method described above over the past month, the Burlington Police Department recommends that you review your bank statements to ensure no outgoing mail was stolen from your mailbox,” said Chief Browne. “If you discover that a check you wrote has been altered, please contact your bank and the Burlington Police to report it.”
Altering stolen checks to fraudulently cash them is known as “check washing,” and is a common scheme in which various chemical washes are used to remove ink from checks, creating a blank check that suspects can then fill in however they want.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service reports that more than $1 billion in counterfeit checks and money orders are recovered each year, and offers the following tips for preventing check theft and check washing:
- Use black, gel pens when filling out checks. Black, gel ink can be more difficult to wash off of a check
- Do not mail checks via your residential mailbox, or any other insecure mailbox. It is recommended that any checks be mailed only in blue, Postal Service mailboxes, or that they are delivered in hand inside the Post Office.
- Shred or burn canceled checks. Do not throw checks in the trash.
- Check your bank statements often. Some banks will only reimburse funds lost to fraud if the fraud is reported to the bank within 30 days.
- Don’t risk sending cash in the mail.
Anyone who believes they may have had mail stolen or checks fraudulently cashed is encouraged to contact the Burlington Police Department by calling 781-272-1212.
For more information on checking washing and other scams from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, click here.