Check-Washing Scams Surge as Fraudsters Target Mailed Payments

Scammers are increasingly stealing checks directly out of the mail, washing away the original ink, and rewriting them to pay themselves instead of the intended recipient, according to the U.S. Postal Service and federal regulators.

The scheme, known as check washing, involves fishing checks out of mailboxes or collection boxes, using chemicals to strip the ink from the paper, and then filling in new payee names and amounts while keeping the original signature intact. The Postal Service says its inspectors recover more than $1 billion in counterfeit checks and money orders every year. The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has reported that check fraud doubled between 2021 and 2023.

In some cases, scammers are skipping the chemical process altogether and instead scanning stolen checks to digitally reproduce fake copies using a victim’s signature.

How the scam plays out

Victims often don’t realize anything is wrong until a payment fails to go through. A credit card bill, insurance premium, or homeowners association fee goes unpaid, even though the person mailed a check weeks earlier. By the time they check with their bank, the original check has already been intercepted, altered, and cashed by someone else.

One case described by a Fox News opinion contributor involved a family member who believed she had taken reasonable precautions — she avoided online bill payments and dropped her checks in a collection box directly outside her local post office. She was still targeted. Her bank ultimately determined she wasn’t liable for the stolen funds, but the episode illustrates that even cautious mailers aren’t immune.

Steps to protect yourself

Security experts and postal officials recommend several precautions:

• Write checks with a gel pen and press firmly, which makes the ink harder to chemically remove. This isn’t foolproof against scammers who scan and digitally reproduce checks, but it can deter traditional washing.
• Pay bills in person when possible — at a bank branch, a company’s local office, or city offices handling items like property taxes.
• If paying online, follow safe practices to avoid separate digital scams.
• Avoid outdoor mailboxes and collection boxes for outgoing checks. Drop mail off inside the post office instead, since even government-owned boxes have been targeted.
• Collect mail from home promptly, and place a free hold on delivery through the Postal Service when traveling.
• Set aside a regular day each week to confirm that all bills have been paid and payments have cleared as expected. If a payment is delayed, contact the financial institution immediately.

Officials emphasize that acting quickly after noticing a missed or altered payment improves the chances of recovering stolen funds.