Be Careful Mailing Checks - Page 2

proudlyfromNJ · ‎05-01-2010

@Buffalogal47 wrote:
I pay most of my bills online. There are 2 that I mail checks for and so far, no problem. My apartment complex has a mailbox with apartment numbers only and a narrow slot for outgoing mail. It would be extremely difficult for anyone to get into the box. I have used Venmo on occasion to send money for birthdays, etc. No problems with that either.

@Buffalogal47 Ours outside the PO also have the slim slot to put the mail in.

Isobel Archer · ‎04-04-2015

@proudlyfromNJ wrote:
@Buffalogal47 wrote:
I pay most of my bills online. There are 2 that I mail checks for and so far, no problem. My apartment complex has a mailbox with apartment numbers only and a narrow slot for outgoing mail. It would be extremely difficult for anyone to get into the box. I have used Venmo on occasion to send money for birthdays, etc. No problems with that either.
@Buffalogal47 Ours outside the PO also have the slim slot to put the mail in.

Don't think the mail slot size has anything to do with it. The mailbox has to be opened to retrieve all the mail - and apparently thieves have figured out how to do it.

Isobel Archer · ‎04-04-2015

@SeaMaiden wrote:
@Isobel Archer wrote:

Apparently, it is safer to mail inside the post office.
@Isobel Archer This is not a new discovery...I would never put mail in an outside box. Most people should take a few minutes and walk a few steps to put outgoing mail inside the mail drop in the post office. Lesson learned I guess. Seems obvious to me in today's economy of theft and robbery of mail.....

Well it also seem obvious that personal mail boxes are at risk as well. Not sure what to do about that.

While I know you didn't mean it that way, it seems more and more, we just shrug off increasing crime and tell people it's their fault if they are victims.

In fact, when I called the Postal Investigative Service, I said I wanted to report theft of mail. Her first response - in what sounded like a condescending tone - was - Oh you didn't receive something and you think someone stole it? I said no - this was definitely theft of mail and reported what happened. She then agreed that it was.

Othereeeen · ‎03-13-2010

Great advice.....criminals probably have a written schedule to remind them of holiday etc that are coming up, and in rural areas, they know where the older residents live on the road....( you would not beleive the weirdos I see cruising our rural backroad area ....)

For instance....graduations are soon coming up...then weddings in spring...gold mine for thieves mining mailboxes...

Yes it's a pain to park, pay the parking meter by our post office, and trudge inside, but for the very few things I mail a check for today, it's worth it....

The other problem is if you pay your credit cards off each month, the card companies keeps sending offers in the mail....even if you opt out, they keep coming ( about as useless as trying to opt out of those robocalls....).

Thieves will try ANYTHING today to get money from the unsuspecting. I can only imagine the nonsense these non stop callers to both my landline and cell phone want to barrage me with.

And don't get me started on my SPAM email box. Disgusting and prolific garbage every day.

Ladies one more thing....with gasoline and food costs so high, don't bring your whole financial life to the store or gas station with you. ONE card is enough( an record at home WHICH card in case it is stolen) and a little cash in case someone sticks a gun in your face you have SOMETHING to give them in that one second it might make a difference.

And if they snatch your purse, you won't spend months trying to recall what was IN your purse and all the stuff you have to cancel, notify, etc.

Watch your cart too. Someone might want to steal that too as you wheel it to your car. Especially if they note what you're buying while IN the store. Some folks don't have to worry about food costs as much as others, and a full cart can be as tempting as a stuffed purse....

It's RIDICULOUS today.

SilleeMee · ‎05-22-2016

I never use my home mailbox to mail anything important including mail containing checks. One time I sent a check to the DMV to renew my car plates and they never got it. So now I pay the extra online fee to process my credit card payment to them instead. Sending them a paper check is free but for credit card payments they charge a fee.

I use PayPal to send funds to friends who live far away.

Shelbelle · ‎03-09-2010

I pay my bills online but I often leave my outgoing mail in my box on my porch for my mail carrier to take, works well for me. I dont leave it on days when no one is home but only when I am home to check every so often that it is still in the box.

Also if you are going to leave it in a stand alone box, best not to leave it in there overnite, put it in in daylight hours when you know it will soon be picked up by the post office

proudlyfromNJ · ‎05-01-2010

@Isobel Archer wrote:
@proudlyfromNJ wrote:
@Buffalogal47 wrote:
I pay most of my bills online. There are 2 that I mail checks for and so far, no problem. My apartment complex has a mailbox with apartment numbers only and a narrow slot for outgoing mail. It would be extremely difficult for anyone to get into the box. I have used Venmo on occasion to send money for birthdays, etc. No problems with that either.
@Buffalogal47 Ours outside the PO also have the slim slot to put the mail in.
Don't think the mail slot size has anything to do with it. The mailbox has to be opened to retrieve all the mail - and apparently thieves have figured out how to do it.

@Isobel Archer Thank you for that info. I thought they were stealing from where the mail is put into the box.

LindaSal · ‎05-15-2014

If people would only get rightly prosecuted for the crimes they commit, this would not be such a problem. Messing with the US mail is a federal offense.

Linda0215 · ‎10-23-2015

This is nothing new. It's been going on for years. When thieves see an envelope that looks like it might be a birthday card, they assume there is cash in it and it is stolen. It's even been an ongoing problem within the Postal Service itself. What I don't understand is the brazen altering of the check. Shame on the bank that cashed it. I work for a bank and the tellers are thoroughly trained to look out for anything that looks slightly suspicious. Protocol is the teller should bring it to the attention of the branch manager for investigation. That teller would have been fired if this happened at my bank. No questions asked. I'm sorry you had to go through that. Crooks work overtime trying to cheat the public. They should just get a job.

Isobel Archer · ‎04-04-2015

@Linda0215 wrote:
This is nothing new. It's been going on for years. When thieves see an envelope that looks like it might be a birthday card, they assume there is cash in it and it is stolen. It's even been an ongoing problem within the Postal Service itself. What I don't understand is the brazen altering of the check. Shame on the bank that cashed it. I work for a bank and the tellers are thoroughly trained to look out for anything that looks slightly suspicious. Protocol is the teller should bring it to the attention of the branch manager for investigation. That teller would have been fired if this happened at my bank. No questions asked. I'm sorry you had to go through that. Crooks work overtime trying to cheat the public. They should just get a job.

The deposit was done online. Not sure what kind of security they have for that. Our bank is BOA. It was deposited into a TD bank account. BOA is investigating and expects to retrieve their (our) money.

The article I read said there are ways to remove the ink from the check and rewrite it. The online check in our bank statement shows the original signature - but the date, payee and amount are all printed in a clearly different hand - but there is no other evidence that anything was altered. You can't see any erasure or other indication of change.