LAS VEGAS — Sending money by check might not be as safe as you think. Con men using duct tape and string have figured out a way to make big money in a short period of time.
Anna Haley was a victim of an intricate check washing scam.
"This recording says you owe a payment and I thought that was strange because I had just sent the payment," recalled fraud victim, Anne Haley.
Haley called her bank. The bank said the checks had been cashed.
"She pulled up my account and she showed me copies of the checks," Haley said.
Haley immediately knew the writing wasn't hers and the amounts were for hundreds more than she wrote.
"What they did was they changed the company I sent the check to. They changed the amount, but they left my signature on the check," Haley said.
Haley was a victim of check washing — when con men chemically alter the checks to get cash immediately.
In Haley's case, they stole $3,000.
"I was upset — very upset. At that time, I wasn’t sure that I would get the money back," said Haley.
Postal inspectors quickly realized checks were being stolen from specific boxes over and over again.
They call it "fishing."
Con men stole checks from blue collection mail boxes using duct tape and string.
"It can be as simple as a piece duct tape or it can be as elaborate as metal sheet wrapped in duct tape and they’ll throw that into one of our blue collection boxes and pull it out with attached string or a long tail and they will have all the mail stuck to it," explained U.S. Postal Inspector Justin Steele.
Inspectors say almost 30 victims lost more than $20,000 in just a four month span.
"They would fish out of the collection box at night. They would go all over to almost everyone they could find. They would fish out the mail, take the checks that they could get. They would then wash them, put their information on them, go and negotiate the check and walk out with the money," Steele said.
They have simple advice if you mail checks: take your mail inside the post office or check the collection box times.
"Every collection box says when the last pick up time is or collection time is and you know if you mail right before then those checks will be picked up by the post office and will be in safe hands," Steele advised.
If you use the blue collection mailboxes, check collection times and try to drop off your mail close to one those times.
As for Haley, she has changed how she does her financing.
"I go online, and I pay my bills, and I print out my checking account statement to make sure everything’s been paid. I also print out my credit card statement," Haley said.
You will be glad to know after filing a police report and mail complaint, the bank reinstated Haley's money.