Instances of fraudulent check use through mail theft are on the rise in Greenbelt, with the Greenbelt Police Department reporting four cases of check fraud in January 2022 alone in their weekly crime reports.
Individuals often steal checks from mailboxes and forge or alter a check that has already been written to change the name of the recipient and the amount number, said Hannah Glasgow, a spokesperson for the Greenbelt police.
One victim of check fraud in Greenbelt in January said that her check was stolen from a United States Postal Service collection box and washed, removing the ink and allowing the thief to rewrite the check.
She had written the check to pay a bill and brought it to a USPS collection box in the Roosevelt Center parking lot in Old Greenbelt.
“I just drove up and threw it in there and I figured that’s a very public mailbox, but no,” the victim, who requested to remain anonymous, said.
When the couple checked their bank statement, they saw a check had been posted against the account for $12,500 and say they clearly knew the check was fraudulent.
“We realized right then and there that somehow they got a hold of one of our checks and did this, but we didn’t know how they did it,” the victim said.
They immediately reported the suspicious charge to their bank and to the Greenbelt police, who are investigating the instances of check theft from collection boxes alongside the U.S. Postal Inspector.
“It’s a real hassle when someone steals money from you like that. You have to change your passwords … they freeze your account, then you have to go and get another account. New checks, new cards, so it’s a hassle,” said the victim.
The Greenbelt Police Department recommends that people bring checks inside a post office to mail them in a secured indoor box, where they are more difficult for thieves to access, or to consider using cashier’s checks and e-checks instead.
Blue ink and ballpoint pens should be avoided when writing checks, the police spokesperson said, as they are easier to wash off the paper. Use a gel, rollerball, thick felt or fountain pen with black ink instead.
“Of course, make sure that the check is filled out properly. Once you’ve written the name, put a line through the rest of the check. Once you’ve written the amount, put a line through the rest of the space so there’s no room for anyone to change 100 to 100,000,” Glasgow said.
The police encourage residents to check their bank statements at least weekly because the sooner the crime is reported, the higher the chance that police will have good leads to investigate, and the less chance of further fraudulent activity on the bank account.
“If we do write a check to anybody [in the future], it will be mailed inside the post office,” said the victim. “My advice is to just not use those mailboxes anymore.”
Destiny Herbers is a journalism student at University of Maryland writing for the Greenbelt News Review.