Mail Fraud - Stolen Checks!
- Thread starter TPD
- Start date
How so? If you mean that enabling electronic check deposits from their apps with phone scans is "at fault"..well, yeah. I'd hate to see that feature go away....
TPD
the poor dad
I don’t see how. Based on the check stolen from me that thieves tried to cash, it was an exact replica of my original check - same check #, signature, etc. just a new name and address.
LightRoasted
If I may ...
For your consideration ...
Convenience .......... brings consequences. Also known as laziness.
Thanks for the clarification, didn't know (or forgot) that.
Have you perhaps not noticed how many physical branch locations are being closed these days? Besides that, being able to deposit checks electronically has saved us a lot of time and travel expense associated with dragging the deposit to the bank.
One the two checks of ours that was cashed was a very clean and neat job, replacing the payee's name and address. The other was a hot mess...different font sizes intermingled, other check features out of place or even missing altogether. Almost as bad as one of those classic "ransom notes" pieced together with letters and words cut out of magazines and newspapers...LOL. And it was cashed anyway.
TPD
the poor dad
Yeah didn’t mess with the amount on mine either - guess they figured $14,000 was enough. I’ve had 5-10 checks stolen but only 1 that was attempted to cash before the bank caught it and denied.
That's what I've concluded too. The "official" USPS response we've received so far was one of "surprise" (that from the USPS Inspectors office when we reported our thefts...which were 16 out of hundreds in this specific area) to "send all checks in hand-addressed standard envelopes and not the check envelopes with the window"; the advice from local postmasters. So all that money spent on checks, envelopes etc to be compatible with our financial management software is right out the door. So lame. The USPS are implying its our fault that checks are being stolen from inside their system.
Sneakers
Just sneakin' around....
I had to mail a big check, and was a bit concerned about it. Was talking with the clerk behind the counter at the PO, and he admitted there was a problem with checks disappearing, but wouldn't go into specifics.
They know. They know how. It obviously goes to a very high and involved level or it would have been stopped a long time ago.
I already regarded the local USPS with a high degree of distrust; they opened some of my packages to "inspect" the contents and then carefully placed the opened packages, still containing all the "small firearms parts" - not a single part missing! - in my mailbox and refused to provide even a lame explanation of what "happened".
Sneakers
Just sneakin' around....
I remember you mentioning that. You'd think in a community as small and close as yours, messing with packages wouldn't happen. Too many people know each other.
PeoplesElbow
Well-Known Member
Ours have all of that stuff and on both sides too. Apparently none of that matters or "functions" when checks are electronically deposited via scanned image or camera pic. Considering that all the banks are eating these losses to this point, I'd bet they are working on ways to to harden the the electronic deposit methods right now.
A friend of mine that's something of an expert on cyber security and secure network management suggested that this is how the organized check stealing rings are operating:
1. USPS employees are skimming off the business checks, obvious and easy to spot because of the printed payee name and address in an envelope window. (100% - ALL - of the checks we mailed over a 4-5 week period were stolen. So the thieves are very efficient.)
2. The USPS employees forward the stolen checks to another party(s) and receive a kickback.
3. The party receiving and operating with the stolen checks has access to an inventory of hacked personal bank accounts; you obviously cannot electronically deposit a check without a legit bank account to enable such a transaction to occur.
4. The stolen checks are modified to change the payee (and sometimes also the amount) and electronically deposited in one of the hacked bank accounts.
5. Immediately after the check posts to the legit bank account of an unwitting individual, the hacker transfers the cash out to a different account that is harder to trace and may be offshore or even a very temporary one..
I verified that the name and address of the altered payees out checks were "cashed" by were real, in both cases..
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TPD
the poor dad
^^ This ^^
Once the banks stopped sending your original cancelled checks back to you via your statement each month, those security features became useless, because it is now up to the individual teller who first takes the check for cashing or deposit to look at the security features, if it is taken into a bank. Out of all of the checks I've deposited in the bank through the years or cashed, not once has a teller inspected them for fraud. Now at some retail establishment, if you pay with a check, all they do is scan your check and then hand it back to you. Security features don't matter as long as the cashier gets an acceptance verification on your check.
For these reasons, when offered, I decline the option of any security features on my checks when ordering new ones. Why pay the $$ for something meaningless.