🎯 In 30 seconds: Thieves take checks from mailboxes, dissolve the ink, and write in a new name and a bigger amount. Mail fewer checks, mail the ones you must from inside a post office, watch for them with free USPS Informed Delivery, and report an altered check to your bank the day you see it.
How check washing works
The Postal Inspection Service describes it this way: a check is stolen from the mail, washed in chemicals to remove the ink, and the payee and often the amount are rewritten before it is deposited. Some thieves skip the washing and print copies. Postal Inspectors say they recover more than $1 billion in counterfeit checks and money orders each year.
The common places checks get taken: your home mailbox with the flag up, a blue collection box after the last pickup, and incoming mail left overnight.
Safer ways to pay
| Option | Why it is safer | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Pay the biller online or autopay | No paper in the mail at all. | Use the biller’s own site, typed in yourself. |
| Your bank’s bill pay | The bank sends the money electronically to many billers. | Some payees still get a paper check printed by the bank. |
| Credit card | Strong dispute rights and a $50 cap on unauthorized use. | Fees some billers add for cards. |
| Paper check, mailed safely | Hand it in at the post office counter or drop it inside the post office. | Avoid outdoor boxes after the last pickup time. |
If you must write checks
- Write in indelible black ink and leave no blank space on the payee and amount lines.
- Keep your Social Security number, card numbers and phone number off the check.
- Bring mail in daily. Ask the post office to hold mail when you travel, or have a neighbor collect it.
- Ask payees to confirm they received the check, and watch your account for it clearing.
USPS Informed Delivery
Informed Delivery is free. Each morning it emails grayscale images of the address side of letter-size mail that is due to arrive, plus package status. That gives you two early warnings: an expected check or card that never shows up, and mail you didn’t expect, such as a new credit card you never applied for. Signing up also means someone else can’t quietly register for your address. Turn on the account’s multifactor login.
A worked example: the $85 check
You mail an $85 check to a plumber from your home mailbox. Ten days later the plumber says it never arrived. Your bank app shows check 1042 cleared for $2,850, payable to a name you don’t know.
- Same day: call the bank’s fraud line. Say the check was altered, give the check number, and ask how to file a written claim. Most banks will want a signed affidavit.
- Same day: ask whether the account should be closed and reopened with a new number, since the thief now has your account and routing numbers.
- Same week: report the theft to the Postal Inspection Service at uspis.gov/report or 1-877-876-2455, and file a police report if the bank asks for one.
- Then: pay the plumber another way, and keep copies of everything.
Under the check rules most states use, the bank usually bears the loss on an altered or forged check when you report promptly. Your deposit agreement sets how quickly you must review statements and report, often a short window. Waiting can shift the loss to you, which is why reading statements monthly matters.
Businesses can ask their bank about positive pay, where the bank only pays checks that match a list you send. More protective steps are on the Money Theft & Forensics page.