Am I the only one who’s been freaked out by the latest crime wave – mailbox fishing? Thieves go literally "fishing" in blue postal service collection boxes, looking for envelopes containing bill payment checks. They “wash” the checks and write in a new payee and a new amount, then deposit the altered check in an ATM. The bank passes the check and, Bobs your Uncle, you’ve been scammed.
From a single check, thieves can use the printed information to print out even more fake ones.
From a single check, thieves can use the printed information to print out even more fake ones.
Talk about low-tech fraud.
I used to think it was safe to mail my bill payments in the drop box right in front of my local post office, but I just found out someone in my town had her bill payment fished from that very drop box, altered, and cashed. She had even been careful to drop the payment into the mailbox just before mail was scheduled to be picked up.
Advice for how to avoid getting fished includes bringing your snail mail to post office and depositing the outgoing mail slot inside the building.
I used to think it was safe to mail my bill payments in the drop box right in front of my local post office, but I just found out someone in my town had her bill payment fished from that very drop box, altered, and cashed. She had even been careful to drop the payment into the mailbox just before mail was scheduled to be picked up.
Advice for how to avoid getting fished includes bringing your snail mail to post office and depositing the outgoing mail slot inside the building.
Also, use gel pens with permanent ink (I just invested in a half dozen) to write your checks. They’re harder to “wash.” Does anyone know if that's truly a deterrent?
Here’s more advice.
What are you doing different to protect yourself, or is this whole thing about mailbox fishing news to you?
Here’s more advice.
- The most secure way to send mail is through the local Post Office retail counter. The next safest way is to use the inside collection slots that deposit mail directly into the Post Office.
- If using the Postal Service’s outside blue collection boxes, never deposit mail after the last dispatch time. Avoid depositing mail during the night, Sundays, and federal holidays.
- If you see someone going into a collection box or mail delivery receptacle during non-postal work hours, contact your local police, and notify postal inspectors at 877-876-2455.
- Sign up for Informed Delivery to be notified about mail that the USPS expects to deliver to you.
- If you think you are a victim of mail theft, contact local law enforcement and the United States Postal Inspection Service. In addition to the Postal Service’s reward on mail thieves, robbery of an on-duty postal employee carries a reward of up to $50,000. Tips can be made anonymously via 877-876-2455, or postalinspectors.uspis.gov.
This latest scam has been encouraging me to move my bill payments 100% online and write checks only when I absolutely need to. Such a nuisance.
Oh, I love Informed Delivery!
ReplyDeleteMailbox fishing is new to me although I have heard about this check-washing thing. I’ve also heard that gel pens [blue ink, please] are best for check-writing . . . .
Used to be that I thought nothing of putting outgoing mail in our mailbox and putting the flag up so the mail lady would know to pick it up, but one year someone took my Christmas cards out of the mailbox. I never would have known about it except that a State Trooper brought those torn-up cards back to me; he said they were looking for gift cards tucked inside the Christmas card . . . . It’s a sad, sad thing . . . .
I'd never heard of Informed Delivery - going to check it out now!!
DeleteHadn't heard of it quite this way before, but it doesn't surprise me. So sad that this is the world we live in, isn't it? I much prefer the only crimes that I have to deal with are fictional.
ReplyDeleteIf only...
DeleteI never heard of it either. We are out of country and can't write checks. We do everything online. But now I worry about friends and relative in the U.S. Is there a way you can share this information on FB? Even though we aren't friends on FB, I think I can read your posts and maybe share it. Otherwise I'd like to copy and paste this info, but only with your permission.
ReplyDeleteHallie, I went to FB and am following you, which means I can share things on your post, if you post this information there.
DeleteElizabeth, I posted a link in both of my Facebook accounts (Hallie Touger and Hallie Ephron) so feel free to share. Or copy and paste into an email yourself. There's nothing in this post that has to be "protected" ... You have my blessings!
DeleteThank you, Hallie. Yesterday my visiting sister promised to help me with my mountain, I mean, piles of unfiled bank statements and paid bills. She said, why don't you do it all online? I mumbled, Old-fashioned? Now there's an additional reason to pay online. Plus, save the cost of a stamp.
ReplyDeleteI have stacks of unfiled stuff, too, Edith. No offense, but I'm relieved you do, too. Lockdown sucked out all my energy for various tedious procedures.
DeleteAnother safeguard is to keep a separate checking account just for paying bills and keep only as much as you absolutely need to keep in it... transfer funds when you need to replenish. That potentially limits the damage.
DeleteMy husband and I decided to try online banking a year ago. Within a few months, despite all the precautions by the bank, we were hacked! We wound up having to deal with the local bank and the FBI. Yes there is insurance to cover this, but we are in our 80's and will never do online banking again. It was very frightening!!!!
DeleteCarol, your experience being hacked, is exactly my nightmare.
DeleteI've never heard of mailbox fishing, but thanks for the alert. I pay my bills online. And I'm already using Informed Delivery.
ReplyDeleteIt may vary in different parts of the country... but aren't you in NYC, Dru? I wonder if mailbox in cities are, in this instance, less apt to be targeted.
DeleteThey make it difficult to get into the street mailboxes. They are bolted and you can't even put your hand down the opening.
DeleteNope, I have never heard of this new mailbox fishing scam. I pay all my bills online and no longer have any checks. Also, there are hardly any physical mailboxes left in my neighbourhood. If I want to mail something, I have to go to a Canada Post office.
ReplyDeleteCanadians are too polite to mailbox fish... imhop
DeleteI have heard of mailbox fishing because one of Irwin's friends in his tennis group had a check rewritten that way. We do leave mail in our mailbox next to our front door for the carrier to pick up. Otherwise, I bring it to the post office and deposit it in the inside slot which drops it inside the mail room. Gel pens sound like a good investment. I am not ready to do everything on line, I don't really trust it won't be hacked.
ReplyDeleteI get it, trying to limit exposure online. But leaving mail outside for the carrier to pick up does seem like courting disaster.
DeleteI heard of mailbox fishing years ago. My husband pays the household bills online thru the bank and I pay my personal bills online or store with my credit card as I want the points to use to visit my granddaughters. We also use Informed Delivery.
ReplyDeleteYears ago! I had no idea. Somehow I thought there was some new technology that made the duplication of the checks possible.
DeleteI heard about mailbox fishing only about a month ago. An elderly friend of mine wrote two tax payments, to the IRS and to the state of Connecticut, totalling $25,000, and mailed them (in boxes in a very wealthy NYC suburb). They were fished and cashed and he had no idea until he received a threatening letter from the IRS stating he had not paid his taxes. The thieves of course were long gone, he was out the money, and he had to close the bank account. AND of course he still owed the taxes, now with penalties! He was naturally distraught.
ReplyDeleteI pay most bills online these days, but I have no illusions that is completely secure either. Crooks spend their days thinking of ways to swindle, and I do not. Nor am I that clever. I try to take normal precautions while feeling sure nothing is foolproof.
What a terrible experience for your friend!
DeleteI'd heard of "mailbox fishing" a few months ago. I admit, I'd wondered how no one had thought of that before and imagined the mechanics and process of fishing, as well as the challenges involved with the newer blue boxes with the narrow steep-angled slots.
ReplyDeleteTalk about finesse. Those cheeky bastages.
It's still alarming and infuriating. Having to drive to the nearest post office and go inside. Or switching to all online and wondering what'll happen if I got hit by a bus without the physical reminder of, "Hey, these bills from Acme piling up. I'd better hit Rhonda's password book."
Considering what many of us write, having an overactive imagination makes sense. Besides, writing crime and suspense is something more constructive for our Shadows to chew on rather than our deepest insecurities.
I'm glad you brought this up, Hallie. Word about this new scam needs to be spread. Thank you.
I've been thinking about how mailbox fishing could factor into a mystery short story ...
DeleteThis is how we live in Cincinnati, after mail carriers were held up at gunpoint and their master keys for big blue mailboxes stolen: we pay our bills and mail our tax returns over the counter at the PO; we do not send gift cards or checks in greeting cards (most popular target of thieves); on tax return day, a policeman in a patrol car was parked in front of the PO, monitoring the big blue mailbox to prevent theft. Paying bills online helps, but I'm tired of the additional fees and lack of a paper trail.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're way ahead of the rest of us who are just waking up to the issue.
DeleteAlmost all online here--though that brings its own set of worries!
ReplyDeleteCheck washing has been around a long time. Remember the Leonardo DiCaprio movie Catch me if You Can? It was a true story, and the main character was doing that in the 1960s.
ReplyDeleteMy mom sends lots of birthday and other cards, usually with a monetary gift of some kind, and has had cash stolen in transit. My brother gets so mad at her, but at 93 her once lovely handwriting is now all but illegible, and she doesn't write many checks. Their neighborhood has locked central mailbox centers, though, which makes sending things out a little more secure.
Yes, and I don't like to consider the possibility that a postal employee might be engaged in check washing. Easy access, like shooting fish in a barrel.
DeleteKaren, thanks for confirming my memory that mail box fishing has been around decades. Elisabeth
DeleteI think the theft came from the recipient's end. Someone stole mail from their box.
DeleteI have Informed Delivery, and love knowing when it is or isn't urgent to get the mail quickly. And I make good use of the USPS Mail Hold system. It's really easy, takes just a couple minutes to schedule online.
Like Karen, I knew check washing was an old trick - and yes, I remember the movie (great flick). So I'm not really surprised at mailbox fishing.
ReplyDeleteI do mail things occasionally from my home box, but they are generally devoid of money. And I write very few checks these days.
I gave up mailing cash ages ago... now I wonder if that isn't MORE safe than sending checks? At least a cash gift is what it is and can't be "washed".
DeleteWow, thanks for the info! I was upset when the blue mail drop boxes began disappearing from my neighborhood; first the close ones (3 within about a quarter mile from my house) and then some of the farther ones. There is still one that's about a mile away that I can walk to--or I can walk to the post office (about a mile and a half, but involves busy streets). Then the blue drive up mail boxes at the post office were gone. The official explanation was "vandalism". However, it's difficult to imagine "fishing" from the newer drop boxes: They don't have the old fashioned doors to drop mail in, rather small slots which are only big enough for one or two pieces of paper mail. That said, I rarely send checks in the mail; I pay my bills on line. I do send holiday cards and last November I sent a thank you card every day to someone in my life--right when the blue mailboxes started disappearing.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, when my favorite nearby mailbox disappeared the first time, back in 2019? when concerns about DeJoy's changes to the post office were in the news, my neighbors decorated the empty corner with a cardboard gravestone and flowers. Rep Blumenauer even sent a picture of the flowers and signs in one of his emails. That mailbox came back, for awhile, but seems to be gone for good now,
"my neighbors decorated the empty corner with a cardboard gravestone and flowers. " I LOVE IT!!
DeleteThis is Kim. I never heard of check fishing, and I'm surprised. Switzerland has never had checks as a payment system, so it's one thing we're spared.
ReplyDeleteWelcome, Kim - Switzerland never had checks as a payment system! Fascinating. Only cash until there was electronic banking??
DeleteThis makes me so tired. But I was aware and anything with money gets mailed at the post office, inside. We're a small town and the PO lobby stays open so people can access their mailboxes. And that, of course, is where the mail slot is if you want to drop off something after hours. Next thing you know, someone will be fishing the lobby drop off slot. Most regular bills I pay online already and grumble every time I pay the fee for online payment of my water bill. The alternative, of course, is to drive to the water company and pay in person. Can't win.
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't get is why surveillance doesn't capture some of these guys in the act... It has to take more than 10 seconds to fish.
DeleteThis is news to me, Hallie, and I'm grateful to know. No longer will I walk to my local mailbox to put a payment by cheque into the mail. Sigh. One more normal ordinary thing the scammers and cheats have ruined.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it's infuriating.
DeleteI remember this scam in Florida just before mailboxes started to disappear. At the time, I wondered how it could happen. Most postboxes are located in fairly busy areas. How is it that no one saw someone fishing? Because of the scarcity of postboxes, I moved my bill payments online quite a while ago. Now the only checks I write are to repair folks who come to my house. Not sure that's more secure, though, considering the prevalence of online identity theft!
ReplyDeleteand these days most of us live in a cashless world. At the chicago airport last week, the concession I went to for coffee and a donut would not take cash. I do like to keep cash around though to tip. So much easier for them to actually USE the thank-you gift.
DeleteI started using online bill pay a couple of years ago. Love not having to make trips to the post office.
ReplyDeleteIf I do have to mail something I go to the P.O. and use their inside box. The Post office is near my house and I can walk there if I want. Not a hardship, thankfully.
Very good advice. I was aware of the problem, but have been a little lax at times dropping an occasional birthday card with a check in the mailbox outside of the post office. I will definitely stop!
ReplyDeleteThis has nothing to do with mailbox fishing, but to do with swindling. In Nova Scotia we are going through a terrible set of forest fires. We are known for our friendliness and ability to come forward for our neighbours and strangers alike. There are many notices of rooms to share or cottages for rent or for free, willing to take animals, etc – all to help out a neighbour.
ReplyDeleteThen there are those who post the adverts, ask for a deposit and disappear. Like those who set any kind of a fire right now, or drop a cigarette out a car window, they should be fined the $25,000.00 and be EXPECTED to pay it or enjoy a considerable amount of time at His Majesty’s pleasure! Of course we could string them up by their tiny little body parts...
By the way, we are currently fine. The fires are in the other half of the province. After hurricane Fiona last fall where were we in the brunt of it, we have so much wood damage, and wood fall in the woods for which we are known. If a fire starts here….
I have packed an evacuation box of what we will need, have a list of what to add if necessary, and wonder how we will ever round up 10 cats and a dog.
As for the scammers – in the midst of kindness and generosity, why do we still have to suffer bad eggs?
Margo, May you be spared from the wildfires. I visited Nova Scotia only once, many years ago, and I loved it. I’ve been thinking of everyone who is affected by the fires, and praying for their safety.
DeleteDebRo
Margo, I have also been praying for the end to those wildfires. We visited Nova Scotia one summer for two weeks and it was magical! (The scams are shocking but as long as there are scammers, there will be people falling for scams. I fell for a credit card scam last month, immediately cancelled that card, but I am still shaking my head that I fell for it!)
DeleteBack to how to pay bills:
ReplyDeleteThe local town (800 people) is about to lose its bank – all in the interest of progress. It is a summer town, with a famous national park, and no place for tourists to get cash (and gas or groceries). Currently there is a trend to more and more eateries asking for only cash, as they are being nailed by credit card charges. The bank has real people and a titless teller outside.
So… what are people to do? Why go to the teller machine in a gas bar 10 kms outside of town (pop 5), of course. Convenient – no. People friendly – no. Accessible to seniors, people without cars, etc – no. In the middle of a public space – yes.
I see in yesterday’s paper (yes we still read a paper paper to get news), that the ATM outside town will now have the ability to take deposits and pay bills as well as give you cash. Whoopee! Oh, by the way, it is inside and only open when the gas bar is open.
At least you shouldn’t get scammed!
I have to ask: What is a "titless teller"?!
DeleteTitless teller - my father's description of an ATM!
DeleteYes, so scary! We don’t leave any mail in our mailbox for the letter carrier to pick up, either.
ReplyDeleteAs a reporter, I’ve done many stories about this over the years— this scam seems to go in and out of “fashion “ —, and for one story, even had a postal inspection service investigator show us how it’s done. Ridiculously easy. And terrifying .
Of course, it’s a federal offense, just saying.
We knew you'd have the inside scoop on this - thanks, Hank. Does using gel pens with so-called permanent ink make a difference??
DeleteWell, good question! The scam relies on careful bleaching, so the more deterrent, the better. Remember, they're using YOUR check, not copying it or printing a new one.
DeleteSo smart, Ellen - belts AND suspenders!
ReplyDeleteI write a monthly check for the plot my mobile home sits on. I take the check, in an envelope, to the business office the company and drop it through the mail slot. There is no online option. The office receives its mail from the postal carrier, through this slot so it better be safe. I pay everything else on line, some of it is automatic payments for insurance and garbage collection.
ReplyDeleteWhen my paycheck became only direct deposit, I opened up a dedicated bank account so that
ReplyDeletemy regular checking account would not be affected if a problem arose.
I pay my credit card bill at the bank, I pay my real estate tax bill at my town hall.
I live a street away from the Boston Marathon route and was going to put some mail in a
mailbox that was on the main street that the runners use-there were at least six boxes that I
went to, all of them were locked. The two directly outside the post office on the same street
had padlocks on them.
YIKES! With Trump's appointee Louis de Joy STILL in charge of the Post Office, I can only imagine.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the heads up about the mailbox fishing, Did not know about this until I read this post.
After reading this, I am not going to use the blue mailbox. I wonder if this happens in Canada and Europe or only in the USA?
Hope something happy / good happens to you all today.
Happy Sunday,
Diana
Diana, unfortunately, Canada is not immune to scammers and criminals.
DeleteDanielle
Thanks for the reminder about this, Hallie. We pay almost everything online but I do occasionally have to send a check for something and usually put them in the outside dropbox at the post office. Now I will take them inside! And I just ordered a couple of black gel (fraud-proof, it says!) pens.
ReplyDeleteI pay my utility bills on the phone. My mortgage gets automatically paid from an account I opened strictly for that purpose. I use another bank account to have other bills automatically paid. I still send checks for my condo common charges, which I think can be done online, but I haven’t looked into it.
ReplyDeleteI had an interesting experience last week. I received a brand-new credit card in the mail, with a cover letter stating that my original card account was shut down, and I should destroy the card immediately. Probably because I read so many mysteries, I was immediately suspicious! I was planning to call the credit card company the next day. That next day before I had a chance to call, I received a letter from the bank affiliated with the credit card, informing me that my account had been hacked, they shut it down , and would be sending me a new card; that I may have already received it. There was a phone number to call if I had questions. There was no way I would call THAT number! I called the number on the back of my original card. It turned out that many, many people had been hacked! I think the hack was very well thought out. With this card, you earn cash back rewards. The criminals found a way to steal the rewards. Everyone’s cash awards are being refunded. Side note: I had no idea that I had been earning cash back rewards! A significant amount of money was stolen. I asked the woman I spoke to where on my statement I could find this information. All these years I’ve been skipping over that section when reading the statements.
DebRo
I've had someone make fake checks with my account info to buy things. And my checks weren't even stolen. Someone along the way, merchant or banks, took and/or sold the info and that was that. I write checks as little as possible as a result. It is much easier to handle fraud on a credit card than on your checking account. Our neighborhood post office in Houston had the outdoor blue boxes cellophane wrapped so no one could use them. That's pretty bad when thieves dive into boxes on post office property.
ReplyDeleteI've known about check washing for eons, but stealing straight from a mailbox, *in front of* the Post Office? Jeeze. We've been paying bills online for quite a while now, thanks to my engineer husband who was on to that when it first became available. But as others have noted, thieves are willing to go to any lengths to steal. We live in a rural area, so even though our mailbox is across the street, it's unlikely (she said with fingers crossed) that anyone would bother coming all this way for such little hope of return. It seems the most effective way to stay on top of these scams is to pay close attention to our accounts, and even with that, some may slip through, but at least will be caught before an irreparable amount of damage is done. ~ Lynda
ReplyDeleteThe Chicago suburb I live in had many blue mailboxes removed during the Obama administration. Because of that, the closest blue mailbox is now the one outside the post office. We've been warned for years not to mail checks from our own mailboxes because the checks can be stolen and wiped. Several postal carriers have been robbed at gun point recently in Chicago and so they're going to start replacing the locks now on all the blue boxes, which will take years. My CPA had checks stolen from inside a post office by an employee who was eventually caught. But of course, there is online fraud too. What a sad world. You have to keep an eye on your accounts and stay on top of these things.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but wouldn't you get charged the returned check fee?
ReplyDeleteOh, good grief. I'm actually impressed there are still enough of us writing checks that this is a paying gig for some thieves. I like paying by check; it may be the old habits I formed since I was in my early twenties, but I track my spending MUCH more carefully when the money goes out that way. And I've had at least three experiences when my electronic payment never went through... which leaves me reluctant to trust those utilities with autopay or some such.
ReplyDeleteGuess I'll be dropping my bills inside the post office from now on. Oh, well, chances are decent I'll see someone I know and get the local news at the same time!
I'm with you! (Susan Shea here)
DeleteI have bank alert for all checks over $100.00 , so at least I would be notified of this this right away. 99% of what I do is auto-paid online each month, but just in case. Too bad the thieves won't take an honest job among the many that are going unfilled. Small silver lining - I'm sure someone will be able to work this into their plot - red herring? plot twist?
ReplyDeleteWhile I don't believe I'd heard of this scam before now, I have skillfully been able to avoid it because I have never used the blue boxes for mailing anything out. I always go inside of the post office and mail the payments out through the outgoing mail slot.
ReplyDeleteAnd while the majority of my bills are still paid via check, I have been paying one bill online for a while now. But that's because the idiots getting paid never send the bill to me with enough time to mail it back thanks to the post office purposely slowing down delivery times.
And there are a few bills that I can actually go pay in person each month too.
I was with you until you said you were movin g your bill paying online, Hallie. Seems like every few months I get a "we have been hacked and your information's been compromised" letter ffrom one or another organization. A friend gave me a little metallic credit card holder because, she said, fthere are criminals who stand around in public and pull your credit card info right off your card in your wallet! Think of the achievements the world would have if these people turned their skills to some honest purpose!
ReplyDelete