Community Chat

[eadu4]

@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.  

[Biftu]

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.

[jlkz]

@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.

[millieshops]

@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.

[ScrapHappy]

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.  

[gidgetgh]

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@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.

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

[NicksmomESQ]

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.

[tervuren]

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. 

[Isobel Archer]

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.

[River Song]

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.