Check Washing Crime: How Low-Tech Fraud Remains a Major Threat

The Persistent Threat of Check Washing

• 💡 Check washing, a low-tech crime, continues to be a significant problem despite efforts to prevent it.
• 🎯 Business owners are taking precautions like mailing checks in front of post offices, believing it to be the safest method.

How Check Washing Works

• 🎣 Criminals are using methods like glue traps to fish checks out of blue collection boxes.
• 🧼 Check washing involves removing the ink from a check and rewriting it with different details, including altered amounts and payees.
• 💸 The Miller family, for example, had their checks cashed for nearly $3,000, leading to significant financial and administrative disruption.

Postal Service and Security Measures

• ⚠️ The US Postal Service has deployed high-security collection boxes to make mail fishing more difficult.
• 🗣️ However, postal carriers and staff acknowledge that this is an everyday occurrence and constantly happening.
• 🚫 Some post offices lack the necessary security features, such as outdoor surveillance cameras, due to failed federal legislation.

Evolving Criminal Tactics and Prevention

• ✍️ While using a gel pen is suggested as a deterrent, criminals have evolved to digitally duplicate and print checks.
• 💻 The most effective defenses recommended are paying electronically or handing checks directly to a postal clerk.
• 📢 There's a particular concern for the elderly, who may not use online payment methods and are more vulnerable to these scams.