INVESTIGATIVE

Check Washing, a Decades-Old Scam, Is Rampant

Experts say crooks steal mail from home and USPS mailboxes, searching for checks they can wash and sell online.

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Jeff Tilem was watching television in his Laurel Canyon home when an eerie sound caught his attention. 

“I heard that distinctive sound of my mailbox being popped,” he said. 

Tilem raced to his mailbox and found it empty. He later watched it all play out on his home security video – crooks had stolen his mail. 

Tilem said mail theft in his neighborhood got out of control during the pandemic. Residents in other parts of the city told the I-Team it’s happened to them, too. 

“It seems like a low level crime, but it’s not, it’s a big thing,” said Tilem.

He’s right. Stealing mail is a federal crime.

Experts told the I-Team they estimate one million new fraudsters hit the streets during the pandemic. First, they stole debit cards that were loaded with unemployment benefits. But now, they’ve gone back to a decades-old scam: check washing.

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“Once the stimulus dried up, they had to switch to other types of fraud. And a very easy way to do this is just stealing checks out of the mail,” said Justin Davis, a fraud expert.

Davis said crooks use chemicals to wash away the payee and dollar amount of the check, and often sell the washed checks online. 

“Fraudsters try to find the easiest ways to make a quick buck. And it’s very easy now to be able to just wash a check, deposit it, and move it on,” he said.

A Pasadena resident, who didn’t want to be identified, reached out to the I-Team and said it happened to her. She wrote a check to Spectrum and mailed it at her neighborhood mailbox. Crooks got ahold of the check, washed it, and later cashed it for $10,000. 

Consumers aren’t financially responsible for money stolen from their bank account through check washing. But it can take months for the bank to investigate and return the money.

The American Bankers Association, a banking trade group, told the I-Team “the rise in sophisticated check fraud is a serious issue.”

Davis estimates that check fraud will reach $24 billion this year alone. 

Thieves didn’t get any checks from Tilem’s mailbox. Still, he reported the mail theft to police, but said he never heard back.

The Postal Inspection Service is also responsible for investigating these crimes. The I-Team asked them for an interview, but they declined. 

“Stealing mail is supposed to be a federal crime. But there’s no enforcement,” said Tilem.

There has been some enforcement. Last fall, local, state and federal agencies teamed up and busted nearly 90 people for running a mail theft and check washing operation throughout the state, including here in LA county. California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the group stole nearly $5 million dollars using washed checks. 

“It was checks from Grandma being altered, forged, deposited into someone else’s account and never making it to the recipient,” he said. 

Bonta told the I-Team that he’s not done fighting the problem. 

As for Tilem, to keep his mail safe, he’s routed it to his family business across town. 

Tips for keeping your money safe when using checks:

  • Stop mailing checks to pay bills and use online bill pay instead.
  • If you mail a check, use a gel point pen. Experts say that ink can’t be washed.
  • Mail your checks at a drop box inside a post office. 
  • If you use a mailbox on the sidewalk, drop your check as close to collection time as possible. 
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