Be on the lookout for people stealing mail. My outgoing mail was stolen this morning, from the 300 block of 16th Ave, the bandit used a utility bill to forge a check and steal $600 from me!
As near as I can tell he/she struck in the morning some time between 9 and 11. So be on guard for any suspicious looking jerks creeping around your mailbox.
Can you explain how this fraud was perpetrated? Did thye thief take the outgoing mail (the utility bill) from the mailbox, take the check made out to the utility, and then make a forged check from it? I assume your bank covered the theft amount?
Do you live in an apartment building and is the mailbox inside the lobby?
Just in case. Don’t want to chance it till they’re caught.
This happened to me several years ago. I found out that this is a very common crime throughout the country. NEVER … NEVER … NEVER PLACE ANY OUTGOING MAIL WITH PERSONAL INFORMATION ON IT OR PERSONAL CHECKS IN AN UNSECURED MAIL BOX. Use only locked outgoing mail boxes, USPS mail boxes, or the PO. And make every attempt to go paperless and do not allow any personal information (such as bank statements) to be mailed to you in an unlocked mail box.
And, get your credit card companies to stop sending cash offer checks and get on a do not mail list to stop offers with personal info.
My box of checks was misdelivered into locked mailboxes in a locked high-end apartment building in Madrona. Checks were then forged and I spent many months (thank you WAMU) getting letters sent to all and sundry to clear my name.
I visited restaurants where the checks were used. Most could care less. But, one manager called the cops when the perp called in an order, but it was her boyfriend who had the checks in his possession.
This was before state laws changed regarding who the victim is, so the cops would not pursue it as the bank was viewed as the victim. But, my property manager had handwriting analysis done on her lease and the signed checks to beef up the case to evict her for non-payment of rent. Karma.