# Who is cashing stolen checks these days? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 28, 2023, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-cashing-stolen-checks-these-days/983303 "2023-04-28T04:38:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2023, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-cashing-stolen-checks-these-days/983303/1 "2023-04-28T04:38:05Z")
I my town, breaking into mailboxes is rampant. At my work it’s happened several times. And we have cameras. I live in a gated community with cluster mailboxes. It’s an ‘over 55’ neighborhood. The mailboxes were broken into again today. Last time was about 3 weeks ago. At work, I’m pretty sure it’s the homeless (I saw the video). And we’ve had trouble with homeless here in the park too, I assume they are after checks. My question is, who is cashing all of those stolen checks? In todays world of high security and bank cameras and sophisticated IDs, it just doesn’t seem to make sense. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2023, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-cashing-stolen-checks-these-days/983303/2 "2023-04-28T05:39:16Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > I assume they are after checks. My question is, who is cashing all of those stolen checks? In todays world of high security and bank cameras and sophisticated IDs, it just doesn’t seem to make sense. They might be after anything that contains personal identification information, medical information, etc., etc. That stuff might be easier to sell than trying to cash a check. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2023, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-cashing-stolen-checks-these-days/983303/3 "2023-04-28T05:48:39Z")
I’ll do it for you but I’m taking 50%. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2023, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-cashing-stolen-checks-these-days/983303/4 "2023-04-28T12:27:05Z")
Well, the USPS has issued warnings to not use mailboxes on weekends because stealing checks is on the rise. Crooks use chemicals to wash off the ink and change who it’s made out to and the amount. I had a check stolen a few years ago. It was cashed at a local bank and no account number was written on it (standard procedure). The endorsement looked nothing like my name. I was out the money. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2023, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-cashing-stolen-checks-these-days/983303/5 "2023-04-28T15:51:40Z")
Why would they be on the rise? The use of checks for Social Security, payroll has increasingly been replaced by direct deposit. The number of checks issued is declining at a rate of 7%/year: > **[Federal Reserve Payments Study (FRPS)](https://www.federalreserve.gov/paymentsystems/fr-payments-study.htm)** > > The Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington DC. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2023, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-cashing-stolen-checks-these-days/983303/6 "2023-04-28T16:04:02Z")
A less-washable pen. > **[Amazon.com: Uni-Ball Signo 207 Retractable Gel Pen, 0.7mm Medium Point, Black,...](https://www.amazon.com/Uni-Ball-Signo-Retractable-0-7mm-Medium/dp/B01MQT4YGB)** > > Buy Uni-Ball Signo 207 Retractable Gel Pen, 0.7mm Medium Point, Black, Pack of 6: Gel Ink Rollerball Pens - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2023, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-cashing-stolen-checks-these-days/983303/7 "2023-04-28T16:07:40Z")
So based on my experience (I had some checks stolen in a burglary a few years ago) its smaller stores out in the boonies. I had checks stolen from my home in the SF Bay Area and they were used a year or two later at clothing store in the middle of nowhere in Oregon. Whats irritating is I had reported them stolen, but that doesn’t mean they can’t use them, it just means they don’t try and take the money out of your account it instantly becomes a bad check cashed _on your account_ (as if I had used a check and had insufficient funds). Which then needs to be sorted out with identity theft affadavits and such. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2023, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-cashing-stolen-checks-these-days/983303/8 "2023-04-28T16:44:51Z")
We had a problem where some guy stole a credit card application out of our mail, applied for it, and then stole mail out of my mailbox every day until it arrived then started using the credit card. I only noticed the credit card thing when I got a letter from my credit card company thanking me for opening a new account. I had to buy a new mailbox with a lock for this very reason. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2023, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-cashing-stolen-checks-these-days/983303/9 "2023-04-28T17:59:15Z")
You might also opt out of these credit card offers: [https://www.optoutprescreen.com/](https://www.optoutprescreen.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2023, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-cashing-stolen-checks-these-days/983303/10 "2023-04-29T22:19:14Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I had a check stolen a few years ago. It was cashed at a local bank and no account number was written on it (standard procedure). The endorsement looked nothing like my name. I was out the money. Really? In the old days, all you had to do was go to the bank and swear that you didn’t write the check and the bank refunded the money since the signature was wrong. My grandmother died in 1961. When my mother went through the final statement, she found a check whose signature was not grandmother’s. I went to the bank and swore that “to the best of my belief and knowledge” it was not her signature and they refunded the money. They later found the thief who had been an attendant at the nursing my grandmother was at. But this was 62 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2023, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-cashing-stolen-checks-these-days/983303/11 "2023-04-30T02:33:19Z")
The difference here was that the check was written to me. It was the endorsement that was wrong. This is why banks generally don’t cash checks without putting an account number on it. ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2023, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-cashing-stolen-checks-these-days/983303/12 "2023-06-22T20:05:07Z")
Postal Service Says to Stop Mailing Checks. Because of mail box thieves AND postal worker thieves. Steve Lehto [https://youtu.be/3oxTbPHpuow?t=12](https://youtu.be/3oxTbPHpuow?t=12) ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2023, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-cashing-stolen-checks-these-days/983303/13 "2023-06-22T21:04:27Z")
I won a ticket in the Oregon state lottery, not too big but too big to cash out where I bought it, I think it was $1500. They will only pay out around $600, so you either have to go to lottery headquarters or mail it in, so I mailed it. You would thing that the payoff check would be sent descreetly. Nope. The pay check came in my mail in an envelope with bright red lettering saying it was from the Oregon State Lottery, with a clear address label showing my name and address and that there was clearly a check inside. Just begging someone to steal it. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2023, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-cashing-stolen-checks-these-days/983303/14 "2023-06-22T21:19:12Z")
> [@dougrb](#): > > Postal Service Says to Stop Mailing Checks I find this hard to believe. Here’s an incorrectly headlined TV news story spreading the same rumor: [U.S. Postal Service warning users against sending checks through the mail](https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/u-s-postal-service-warning-checks-mail/) However, the person quoted in the story is from the Better Business Bureau. And I also found a TV news story, just out an hour ago, disputing the literally incredible stop mailing checks meme: [USPS says sending checks through the mail is secure](https://www.ky3.com/2023/06/22/usps-says-sending-checks-through-mail-is-secure/) > [@](#): > > Reports recently claim checks mailed are no longer safe. The U.S. Postal Service denied those claims. > > U.S.P.S. staff says there is no problem with mailing checks. U.S.P.S. leaders said there is no warning or recommendation not to send them. > > “The Postal Service delivers about 130 billion pieces of mail over a year to 163 million customers,” said Paul Shade with the U.S.P.S. “It still remains the most secure way to transmit anything from any type of mailing.” . . . > > “When you’re utilizing the blue boxes, it’s also imperative to check the time that that is going to be picked up,” said Shade. “You don’t want that mail sitting in any place overnight.” After reading about Philadelphia blue box thievery, I have started following the above advice about not having it sit overnight in a blue box. I kindda think it is OK for it to sit overnight in a cluster box outgoing mail slot, but maybe I’m wrong.