Post Office Warns: Stop Using Those Blue Collection Boxes

(KMDL-FM) The United States Postal Service is warning customers to stop using the iconic blue mail collection boxes for mail drop-offs. The blue boxes, a current staple outside many postal facilities and on downtown street corners, are now prime targets for thieves who want to steal your money via a scam called check washing.

Postal officials said customers who still mail checks should be especially cognizant of the check washing scam. In fact, Post Office officials suggest that if you do have to mail a check, you take the envelope or parcel to your local Post Office, where it can be processed in person, or use an inside drop box that is under constant surveillance.

What Is Check Washing?

Here is how check washing works. You write a check to pay a bill. You put that check, usually in a pre-printed envelope, and drop it either in your home mailbox or a USPS collection box. The bad guys take your envelopes out of the collection bins. They then remove your check from the envelope.

The next steps involve household chemicals; the thieves use those chemicals to dissolve the ink that you used to write the name of the payee. Once that has been cleared, the thieves write their name as the payee. Sometimes they change the amount to a higher figure. They then take the check, with your authorized signature, to the bank and cash it.

U.s. post office sign on a wooden door

Scams such as this cost American postal customers more than $1 billion every year. But you can avoid the problem by not mailing physical checks. Many companies offer online payment options, but there are other concerns you have to be aware of regarding that form of payment.

The USPS also suggests that if you do write checks, you use gel pens with black indelible ink. That kind of ink is difficult to wash off and would make the check look very suspicious when the ne'er-do-wells attempted to cash it.

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If possible, hand checks over in person and never leave a signed check in a residential mailbox or blue collection box, especially over a weekend. Oh, and monitor your accounts. Almost every bank has a way to monitor your money online; it really is a good habit to get into.

If You've Been a Victim of a Check Washing Scam - Here's What to Do

A pen rests on a check near the dollars line.

If you've been a victim of a check washing scam, there are some things you need to do as well. Naturally, call your bank and report the altered check or odd activity in your account. Request a stop payment or put a hold on the account.

It would be wise to also file an unauthorized transaction dispute. Don't wait; the quicker you act, the better your chances of not becoming a victim or at least not being held responsible because you were a victim of a crime.

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You should also reach out to postal officials and report the incident. And since you're now afraid to go to the mailbox, let's make you afraid to answer the phone.