The stolen-mail scheme now targeting a wealthy D.C. suburb
The theft of checks from USPS blue mailboxes has spiked across the country, and the D.C. region is a new hot spot
By Alisa Tang and Razzan Nakhlawi
Yesterday at 1:48 p.m. EDT
During the coronavirus pandemic, there has been a massive spike in checks being stolen from the mail across the United States and used in financial fraud, authorities and researchers say. In March, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service alerted the Justice Department.
The stolen checks trend is linked to a “significant increase” in armed robberies of USPS letter carriers to steal arrow keys, which can open most mailboxes across an entire Zip code, according to a U.S. Postal Inspection Service advisory to the Justice Department. In some cases, one Zip code can encompass an entire city. The primary motive behind these robberies, the March 7 advisory said, is financial theft: “Criminals are stealing mail … to obtain checks, financial instruments, and personal identifying information to commit bank fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud and identity theft.”
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“They have amazing technology,” said the researcher, who spoke on the condition of anonymity after receiving threats. “We see some of their labs, and they’re well equipped … most of the checks we see come from the blue boxes.”
The group found that buyers use nail polish remover to erase the intended payee’s name and the amount of the check, replacing the details with their own payee and amount, usually much higher than the original amount. A buyer may also use a fake ID to cash the check at a location such as Walmart.
“Organized crime groups, local gangs are figuring out there’s nobody to stop them from doing this,” the researcher said.
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