Reported by Steve Weisman

(Excerpt shared below. To read full report, go to: https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveweisman/2026/01/25/from-mailbox-to-bank-fraud-check-theft-is-surging-and-how-to-stop-it/)

While the crime may seem like something from another era, mail theft is big business. Financial‑crime analysts at the Treasury Department’s FINCEN estimate check fraud accounted for about $21 billion dollars in losses during 2023 with a substantial portion of that amount originating with stolen mail. Making matters worse, these figures are undoubtedly low because 90% of mail theft goes unreported.

Starting in the early 2020s, mail theft from mail receptacles began increasing dramatically. According to Postal Inspection Service investigations and Department of Treasury data between Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 and FY 2023 there was a 139% increase in reports of mail theft from mail receptacles. Mail is stolen from residential mailboxes, USPS collection boxes, burglary of USPS facilities, robbery of USPS employees and through bribery and collusion with USPS employees. The significant rise in mail theft and associated financial crimes has often been attributed to organized criminal groups who consider mail theft and check fraud low-risk, high-reward financial crimes.

Often we are our own worst enemies when it comes to mail theft as people leave outgoing mail containing checks in their personal mailboxes outside their homes with the flag raised to alert the postal carrier that there is mail in the box to be retrieved, however this also alerts identity thieves who can easily steal the mail. 

HOW CHECK FRAUD IS ACCOMPLISHED

Typically, check fraud begins when someone mails an envelope with a check and then somewhere in transit the check is stolen and washed. Check washing is a process by which someone steals a check you have already written and “washes” or removes the name of the payee, often using simple bleach. Often they change the amount of the check as well. The criminal then cashes the altered check and steals the money.