November 20, 2024

Stop Check Washing in Its Tracks: Top Tips to Secure Your Finances

Crooks steal your mail, then wash and rewrite checks. There are ways to stop then.

Have you ever sent a check that was cashed, but the recipient said it never arrived? You may be the victim of check washing. Check washing scams involve changing the payee names and often the dollar amounts on checks and fraudulently depositing them. Occasionally, these checks are stolen from mailboxes and washed in chemicals to remove the ink. Some scammers will even use copiers or scanners to print fake copies of a check. In fact, Postal Inspectors recover more than $1 billion in counterfeit checks and money orders every year, but you can take steps to protect yourself. We’ve come up with 8 simple things you can do to help put an end to check washing.

  1. Pay your bills online. Paying bills online is safer than sending a check through the mail. You can pay bills through our mobile banking app.
  2. Deliver your mail to a post office. Don’t leave envelopes containing checks in your own mailbox or in outdoor USPS collection boxes after the last pickup time. Take your letter to your nearest post office during business hours and either hand it to a clerk or slide it through an outgoing mail slot inside the building.
  3. Use a pen with blue or black non-erasable gel ink. Gel ink soaks into paper and may be more difficult to remove than ballpoint pen ink.
  4. Don’t let delivered mail sit in your mailbox. Grab your mail every day, as close to the delivery time as possible. If you’ll be away, ask a trusted friend to collect it or have the post office hold it until you’re back home.
  5. Monitor your bank account. Don’t wait for your monthly statement. Go online every few days to review account balances and look at checks drawn against them.
  6. Report incidents quickly. Contact your bank as soon as possible after suspicious activity. You can always call us at 254-772-9330 if you suspect fraud.
  7. Secure checks. Store unused checks in a secure spot.
  8. Deposit checks promptly. Follow up with recipients who haven’t cashed the checks you issued them within a reasonable time frame.