Experts report ‘surge’ in check thefts from mailboxes

Liz Kilmer
·1 min read
7

Experts are reporting a “nationwide surge” in check fraud schemes, with criminals increasingly snatching checks from mailboxes.

According to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network [FinCEN], the growing crime “represents one of the most significant money laundering threats to the United States.”

The agency reports that financial institutions filed more than 350,000 Suspicious Activity Reports in 2021, which was a 23% increase from 2020. Meanwhile, from March 2020 through February 2021, the United States Postal Inspection Service received 299,020 mail theft complaints, which was 161% higher than the number received during the same period a year earlier.

FinCEN reports that there have been cases of Postal Service employees stealing checks, but the fraud cases are " increasingly committed by non-USPS employees, ranging from individual fraudsters to organized criminal groups comprised of the organizers of the criminal scheme, recruiters, check washers, and money mules.”

Thieves manage to steal mail from residential mailboxes, cluster box units and even USPS blue collection boxes.

According to the report, “mail theft can occur through forced entry or the use of makeshift fishing devices,14 and increasingly involves the use of authentic or counterfeit USPS master keys, known as Arrow Keys.”

Recently, Channel 11 reported on a mail theft case in Plum, in which a resident reported an outgoing check being stolen.

We also brought you a story from Monroeville, where a woman’s banking information was stolen, and she later became the victim of check fraud.

For tips on protecting yourself, visit https://www.uspis.gov/tips-prevention/mail-theft.

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