Inside the mailbox scam costing residents millions
Out-of-town scammers are turning the mail into a money-making scheme, and it can cost you thousands with just one hit.
ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – Out-of-town scammers are turning the mail into a money-making scheme, and it can cost you thousands with just one hit.
Small business Honea Auto Body in Maplewood has been targeted twice. Scammers washed their business checks. Owner Ken Kirchhofer’s first check was headed to pay for his family’s health insurance.
“They’re wondering where their check is,” he said. “I was on the verge of being cancelled of healthcare right as my wife broke her leg, because payment did not get there.”
The bank caught it, thankfully, and stopped the scammers from cashing an approximate $2,500 fraudulent check. Kirchhofer then got hit a second time.
“OK, they got caught once. Why would they do it again? Then they did,” he said.
This time, they tried taking $5,000.
“For a small business, it might as well be a dagger in the heart,” Kirchhofer said.
FOX 2 News wanted to see how easy it is for scammers, so we had Kirchhofer write a check; then, we started washing it. We could see the effects immediately.
“That is absolutely amazing how fast that ink is leaving,” he said.
Within 10 minutes, the check was almost completely washed.
“And I pressed hard,” Kirchhofer said. “I did not write it lightly.”
We’re seeing regular reports coming into our FOX 2 newsroom about this scam. And it’s happening in every neighborhood.
One recent case was in Kirkwood, right at the outside collection mailbox. Kirkwood police said two people dropped checks in the mail on two consecutive days and had them stolen. One was a $30 check, changed to more than $2,000.
“People still write checks,” Sunset Hills Police Detective Jeffrey Senior said.
Det. Senior pointed to a recent bust involved cross-state criminals.
“A ring of people coming from Georgia, stealing mail at specific locations, and then going back to Georgia and cashing the checks in the Atlanta,” he said.
Kirchhofer uses a special security program through his bank, which is how the scam was caught both times.
“Then, even as another precaution, I no longer mail them from this location,” he said.
FOX 2 learned you should also always use a gel pen when writing checks. Gel pen ink is much more resistant to being washed. You should also put your mail out right before pickup to give thieves less time to go fishing.
What's Your Reaction?
