CINCINNATI — You may have heard about the issue of mail theft in the past two years. Perhaps it happened to you, or a close relative.
Now, it's a new year, but we're seeing the same old problem of thieves stealing checks from blue mailboxes and then washing and cashing them.
Richard Neal is one of the latest victims: he does things the old-fashioned way.
"Usually if I am out driving, I will mail a check at the mailbox," Neal said.
But these days, that's risky.
He believes someone recently stole a $59 check he wrote to pay his water bill out of a blue mailbox.
A scan shows that the check was washed and re-written for almost $10,000.
"It was bleached and forged and a $59 check turned into a $9,800 check written to somebody who we have no idea who it is," said Neal's daughter, Sheri, who spent hours dealing her dad's bank.
The Postal Service the past two years has been spending millions of dollars to fight the problem of theft. Some post offices no longer have blue mailboxes out front. You have to go inside to mail a letter.
Postal Service trying to fight thieves
This past summer, new and more secure blue mailboxes were installed at many post offices across the country — with more to come.
There is no longer any door where thieves can fish out mail, making it impossible to reach in.
But it is not a perfect fix, since many thieves have stolen master keys from mail carriers.
So the USPS suggests you:
- Mail checks from your local post offices, not blue mailboxes.
- Pay extra for insurance and tracking, if it is really important.
In the meantime, Neal's bank promised it would see what it could do to help.
"I'm 75 years old, I'm retired and on a fixed income. So I can't afford that," he said.
"He's worked his whole life and all he tried to do is pay a bill," Sheri said.
WCPO has reached out to Neal's bank to ask if they can expedite their investigation into how this happened, and possibly return the money to him.
The simplest solution is to pay bills online or drop checks inside the post office, so you don't waste your money.
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