topic Re: Sending a check thru the mail in Community Chat

Sending a check thru the mail

Kalli — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 05:09:56 GMT

I've done this often but this year I find myself hesitant to do so.There are so many news features and articles of folks who have stuff stolen in transit. And according to the USPS some crooks will "wash" checks to alter the name and amount on the check. To prevent this the postal service recommends using a gel pen.

My son lives far away. Due to covering some holiday shifts at work he can't make it home for Christmas. We wanted to send him a monetary gift.

If you still send checks through the mail, what do you do to keep them safe?

Re: Sending a check thru the mail

Snowpuppy — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 05:18:37 GMT

Why not send Priority Mail in their envelope w/tracking?

UPS, FedEx offers similar services too but higher prices.

Re: Sending a check thru the mail

smoochy — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 05:29:59 GMT

why worry about this? When there are a number of safer ways to gift money. I use Zelle and Cashapp. There are others. I've never had any problem and the money appears in the recipients account almost instantly.

Re: Sending a check thru the mail

speedy girl — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 05:46:03 GMT

I pay a couple bills each month by sending a check and I must say I have never had any problem with them arriving. I do mail it from inside the post office though as I think that is safer.

Re: Sending a check thru the mail

Nightowlz — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 06:03:33 GMT

Wrap it in newspaper clipping before you put it in the envelope. Don't mail it in a card.

Re: Sending a check thru the mail

Venezia — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 06:26:42 GMT

We have only ever used gel ink pens to write checks for years now. It can't be washed the way regular ink can.

We send checks through the mail and have never had a problem but we only ever post them at a post office or official postal box. Never put them in our mailbox to be picked up by the carrier. That's where a thief would look to steal them. That flag put up to signal the postal carrier also signals to a thief something's in the box!

We're lucky - we live in a pretty safe area. And a good thing as a FedEx driver just left a package for me today at the roadside (under my mailbox; rural main road), 700 feet from my house in a snowbank! (I couldn't believe my eyes, when I saw it. And you can bet I reported it.)

And what's more he took a picture of it in the snowbank to show delivery! The snowbank could've been anywhere. Idiot.

Re: Sending a check thru the mail

Desertdi — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 06:59:48 GMT

If you are sending a SUBSTANTIAL amount of money (say $20,000), you can have your bank make an electronic transfer of funds to your son's account. It will cost somewhere between $15 and $50 dollars.

Re: Sending a check thru the mail

gidgetgh — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 09:28:52 GMT

I mail checks all the time as I still pay most of my bills that way. I haven't had any issues.....so far.

I use a gel pen, if I remember to. My handwriting is horrible with gel pens for some reason. More often than not, I just use a regular pen.

I don't use cash apps like Venmo and especially Zelle.

I do mail my mail from the post office.

Re: Sending a check thru the mail

haddon9 — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 07:53:07 GMT

For the last several years I have tried to avoid mailing paper checks. Not only do I worry about the check being stolen & washed (I have purchsed gel pens on Amazon for check writing) but many times my mail just wasn't being delivered.

It doesn't matter if it's a "safe" area. I live in a very safe area but still bring something like this to the post office

Here is one example....my daughter got married in May of 2022. We mailed out invites almost two months in advance.

At one point my brother asked when will we mail the invitations. He was living in St. Louis and we are in PA. I told him that it had been a month already but he had never received it. So DD mailed a new one. Both arrived together two weeks later. This was not during the holiday season when you can imagine mail being backed up! I've had other examples of mail either not arriving or being very late.

If I had to send funds I would try to see if you could send it via Venmo or an app like that. It's very easy to use but your son has to have the app too. Once you set it up you can see how easy it is to use and there are no worries if the check will arrive. It works instantly.

Or you could go to the post office and have the check mailed either Priority mail or registered mail. You would have tracking for the check where you just wouldn't by mailing it with stamp.

Re: Sending a check thru the mail

Tinkrbl44 — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 07:58:46 GMT

@smoochy wrote:
why worry about this? When there are a number of safer ways to gift money. I use Zelle and Cashapp. There are others. I've never had any problem and the money appears in the recipients account almost instantly.

@smoochy

Why not Paypal?

Re: Sending a check thru the mail

eadu4 — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 10:38:17 GMT

@Kalli My son is the only one I send money to and since he is active duty military I use auto transfer from my bank to his. I send a card letting him know his gift is in the bank and send a text. I used to send checks to 2 of our grandchildren who live in WV. Both those got stolen one year. The year that happened I didn't immediately know since they are not really good at "thanking" and I just happened to ask that year and found out after a couple of calls they never got our gift. They live in different cities so those cards went through different deliveries. Would never risk sending a gift check in the mail anymore.

The thieves know what a holiday envelope looks like. Holiday envelopes have a 50/50 chance of having something in them. I think there will be much more mail theft this year. More people are struggling and are having a hard time making ends meet.

I know some people feel it would be less personal but the safest is through a money order or a cashier's check. It's only payable to a specific person, can be cancelled and reordered if it's stolen or lost. It's better protected than a personal check and it isn't linked to a bank account. It can be tracked and monitored and you will receive proof of payment. The person cashing it needs to sign and show government issued ID to get the funds. Please remember the more "personal" you want your gift and easier to cash it, the more info you are giving thieves and the easier it will be for them to cash it.

If criminals get your holiday check they can use it to steal information, open fake accounts, can change the amount on the check and it can take weeks to get your money back if you ever do. Post offices do warn customers to avoid mailing checks especially this time of year if possible. Even the post office says more are getting stolen than ever.

You can live in the safest neighborhood and have the best post office but once that envelope leaves your possession, it's open to theft. You have zero control on how that envelope gets to it's destination unless you do certified mail. Better to take precautions than wind up losing your money.

Re: Sending a check thru the mail

Biftu — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 10:55:28 GMT

I pay bills with checks and have sent gifts with checks through the mail my whole life and have never had a problem. Sometimes I put my mail in the mail box at the end of my street and sometimes though the drive up mail box at the post office, I rarely go in. I do not use gel pens either. I don't worry or over react to stories. Least of my concerns.

Re: Sending a check thru the mail

jlkz — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 11:21:11 GMT

@Kalli @Biftu @eadu4 @haddon9 @Venezia @nightowlz @gidgetgh

If you used to use the outside big blue PO mailboxes, you may find them " wrapped " so you cannot drop mail into them. Ours are sealed: both the pull down chute and the open chute. Point: no longer safe to use !!!

Mail from the inside only.

As for using the gel pens, I make certain to clip it to the check book pad so it is always there for use. The " loose " pens on the desk or in the tray have been replaced by the gel pens. No excuse.

Since interest rates are relatively low, I will write a payment check to cover 4 or more months going forward. Less bookkeeping for me.

Re: Sending a check thru the mail

millieshops — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 11:38:49 GMT

@Kalli After my lawyer told me they no long accept mailed checks, but I could come into the office and pay by check. I had them send me a link and wired them what I owed!

But I did buy a gel pen just in case Even tested it to see if it was really useful and it was. Any checks I mail now I write with a gel pen. I had a hard time finding them in stock locally, but finally found some at Office Depot.

Also, I know Chase offers a service that you can transfer funds by wire to people you know. I assume other banks do also, but it's not a service I use so I don't know.

Re: Sending a check thru the mail

ScrapHappy — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 12:02:28 GMT

For a monetary gift to a friend or family member, I don't send cash and I don't send a check. I send a gift card. Usually a Visa gift card that the receiver can you on whatever they want, where ever they want to. Never via USPS. Always UPS. I had to send a donation to a church. Got a cashier's check from bank. Made out to the church and with the name to which in memory of and also send it UPS.

Re: Sending a check thru the mail

gidgetgh — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 12:28:51 GMT

@Biftu wrote:
I pay bills with checks and have sent gifts with checks through the mail my whole life and have never had a problem. Sometimes I put my mail in the mail box at the end of my street and sometimes though the drive up mail box at the post office, I rarely go in. I do not use gel pens either. I don't worry or over react to stories. Least of my concerns.

@Biftu - they closed all the drive up mailboxes at the post offices in my area. So you have to park and go in.

Re: Sending a check thru the mail

NicksmomESQ — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 13:31:32 GMT

Earlier this year I had an incident which made me rethink sending checks through the mail.

I mailed my property tax check to the county on January 2nd,like I've been doing for years. In March, I received a letter saying my taxes were in arrears.I called my bank & they said the check was never cashed. I immediately put a stop pay on it. We went down to the tax office,explained what happened & wrote them another check which included a $17 penalty. When taxes were due again in May,we paid them in person.

After this happened I slowly transitioned to online bill pay. On the occasion I need to mail a check, I go to the post office & physically hand the envelope to the clerk.I never thought I would ever do on line bill pay but I have no choice. The world has changed & if I want to protect myself from theft I have to do it..

Actually, paying my bills on line is a lot easier than I anticipated.

Re: Sending a check thru the mail

tervuren — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 13:00:23 GMT

Happened to my husband and had to open a new account. Bank reimbursed monies, but he had to contact everyone he had autopay with. I write checks as I like to keep a paper trail, but I now go to the POST OFFICE and mail everything from inside. . Not sure if anything is 100% safe anymore.

Re: Sending a check thru the mail

Isobel Archer — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 13:01:40 GMT

I think I've posted before about having a check mailed in a blue mailbox outside the post office stolen and the resulting Postal Inspection Service Rep telling me "everyone knows" blue mailboxes are unsafe and that the "only" safe way to mail was inside the post office.

Well yesterday, a friend told me a check she mailed inside the post office was stolen.

So there's that. I wonder if everyone is now supposed to know the post office is also unsafe.

Re: Sending a check thru the mail

River Song — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 13:41:24 GMT

If you still want to write a check or send a gift card, send it with tracking. Use a gel pen to write the check.

The safe and fast way to send money is through an online bank transfer.

My bank no longer will cash a money order because they are easy to forge.

I don't use FedEx for anything because I'm pretty sure there is a theft ring working in the Orlando area. I've had two items sent FedEx that went through the Orlando hub and they disappeared, stolen right out of the box.