Winthrop Police Investigating Check Washing Incidents

The Winthrop Police Department has received several recent reports of checks being taken out of the mail, altered, and then used fraudulently, according to Police Chief Terrence Delehanty.

Six of these reports were received by the Winthrop Police Department recently. All of the victims who have contacted Winthrop Police report that they mailed envelopes containing checks from either the blue Postal Service mailbox in front of the Post Office at Michael’s Mall, or the blue Postal Service mailbox at Hermon and Centre streets.

In each instance, victims were notified by their banks of potentially fraudulent activity and received copies of altered checks that they did not make out themselves.

Altering stolen checks to fraudulently cash them is known as “check washing,” and is a common scheme in which various chemical washes are used to remove ink from checks, creating a blank check that suspects can then fill in however they want.

“Check washing is a common scheme in which suspects take legitimate checks out of the mail, alter them, and then attempt to cash them fraudulently,” said Delehanty. “I encourage residents who are mailing checks to take their checks directly into the Post Office as we continue to investigate these crimes.”

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service reports that more than $1 billion in counterfeit checks and money orders are recovered each year, and offers the following tips for preventing check theft and check washing:

Use black, gel pens when filling out checks. Black, gel ink can be more difficult to wash off of a check

Do not mail checks via your residential mailbox, or any other insecure mailbox. It is recommended that any checks be mailed only in blue, Postal Service mailboxes, or that they are delivered in hand inside the Post Office.

Shred or burn canceled checks. Do not throw checks in the trash.

Check your bank statements often. Some banks will only reimburse funds lost to fraud if the fraud is reported to the bank within 30 days.

Don’t risk sending cash in the mail.

Anyone who believes they may have had mail stolen or checks fraudulently cashed is encouraged to contact the Winthrop Police Department by calling 617-846-1212.