USPS Postal Inspector Reveals How to Mail Checks to Avoid Theft
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Back in February, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an alert about a “nationwide surge in mail-theft related to check fraud schemes,” noting that the number of check fraud reports filed by banks doubled from 2021 to 2022.
In a recent interview with Federal News Network, Postal Inspector Michael Martel , of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), reiterated the “alarming” uptick in robberies of on-duty letter carriers. When robbing letter carriers, thieves are often looking for their arrow keys. These open the blue collection boxes and allow them to take packages and mail, which often contain checks.
Criminals steal these checks and alter them to include their own names or business accounts they control, per the FinCEN alert. During this process, known as check washing, bad actors also increase the amount on the check before they cash them.
The USPS and USPIS are introducing measures to deter thieves, but when it comes to sending checks through the mail, there are a few precautions you can take, too.
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To prevent checks from being pilfered from outside your own home, don’t leave mail sitting in your mailbox.
“You can significantly reduce the chance of being victimized simply by removing mail from your mailbox every day,” Martel told Federal News Network, noting that sending checks out from your local post office is also a good idea.
Tracking your mail through USPS’ Informed Delivery feature is helpful as well, Martel said. According to the agency’s website, the feature will send you photos of the mail and packages that will be delivered to you that day.
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To keep your checks safe as they go through the mail system, consider the writing instrument you’re using. While you may reach for your standard ballpoint, Ryan Moody , senior vice president of payments product management at Vericast, told Federal News Network that there’s a better choice.
According to Moody, checks filled out with a gel pen are harder for fraudsters to “wash.” This is due to the way that the ink is absorbed into the paper.
“When those chemicals get applied to a check that has that ink absorbed into the paper, those chemicals don’t stand much of a chance against that, so it’s very easy to see that check has been modified,” Moody told Federal News Network.
As Premier Community Bank explains, gel pens have pigments “ suspended in water-based gel ,” which means that they’re resistant to most chemicals used in check washing. This kind of ink is able to bind to the paper better, unlike oil-based ink that settles on the paper’s surface and is washed off easily as a result. Gel ink dries quicker, too, and doesn’t smear, so your handwriting is more legible and durable.
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While you head to the office supply store for some tamper-proof pens, the USPS are USPIS are also working to keep your mail and your checks safe.
“The core mission of the Postal Inspection Service is the sanctity and security of the U.S. mail, Postal Service employees and the customers themselves. We want the American people to have the utmost faith that if they’re dropping that bill payment into the mail stream, it will absolutely arrive to its destination. That’s one of our top priorities,” Martel told Federal News Network.
Almost 50,000 collection boxes will soon be outfitted with electronic locks, while others will require additional authentication to access, hopefully discouraging key theft from mail carriers, Federal News Network reported.
“What that does is it devalues the key. It devalues the very thing those criminals looking to rob our letter carriers are after in the first place.” Martel told the outlet. “We’re looking to increase safety for our letter carriers by employing a technological approach to the issue and really devalue those keys that we’ve seen in the past.”
On top of this, Martel said that agencies are being more vigilant with local cases and arresting bad actors.
- Source: https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/shared/FinCEN%20Alert%20Mail%20Theft-Related%20Check%20Fraud%20FINAL%20508.pdf
- Source: http://usps.com/manage/informed-delivery.htm
See a Sticker on Your Mailbox? Don’t Touch It, USPS Says
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Your mailbox serves a very simple purpose: receiving mail and leaving outgoing mail for a carrier to pick up. Still, some of us enjoy sprucing up our mailboxes, adding personal flair, color, or even decals to help an otherwise standard mailbox stand out. But if you notice a paw print sticker on your mailbox that you didn’t add, don’t start peeling it off just yet—it’s likely part of a program run by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to help keep carriers safe. Read on to find out what these stickers mean and why you shouldn’t remove them.
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In 2023, more than 5,800 Postal Service workers were attacked by dogs while delivering mail, up from 5,300 in 2022, according to a USPS press release.
Larger cities had the highest numbers of attacks, with Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, St. Louis, and Cleveland claiming the top five spots.
“Even though a customer’s dog is friendly to most people, it can always have a bad day,” said letter carrier Tara Snyder . “I know, from experience, even when a dog is in the house, customers need to make sure their door is secure so their dog can’t push it open and bite the letter carrier.”
To her point, the USPS writes that “all dogs can bite, even those perceived as nonaggressive.” In fact, many of the attacks that letter carriers report are by dogs whose owners told them, “My dog won’t bite.”
Such an attack can result in consequences for the homeowner, too. According to data from the Insurance Information Institute, the average cost per insurance claim for a dog bite is $64,555, the USPS states.
“When a postal employee suffers an injury, the owner could be responsible for medical bills, lost wages, uniform replacement costs, and pain and suffering for the employee,” they explain.
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To combat dog bites, the Postal Service shared tips on how pet owners can “support safe mail delivery.” These include keeping dogs inside the house or behind a fence, away from the door or in another room, or on a leash.
“Pet owners also should remind children not to take mail directly from a letter carrier as the dog may view the carrier as a threat to the child,” they state.
Mail carriers also follow protocol to keep them aware of areas where dogs might be present, and they’re equipped with scanners to remind them of possible dog hazards, as well as dog warning cards that are added during mail sorting.
In 2020, the USPS added another preventive measure: the PAWS Program . First introduced in Pennsylvania, the program uses mailbox stickers to keep carriers safe.
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The PAWS Program uses color-coded stickers affixed to mailboxes to inform mail carriers about dogs in the area. An orange sticker with a black paw print tells carriers that there is a dog at this home, while a yellow sticker with a black paw print tells them there is a dog at the next house.
Citizens are informed ahead of time that the stickers may appear on their mailboxes. In a notice sent to Lakewood, Ohio, residents, the Postal Service wrote, “Carriers will soon be placing a paw sticker on mailboxes to indicate that a dog or dogs live in the area —yellow indicates dog nearby/orange indicates dog at residence. The sticker will act as a reminder to the carrier that they should proceed with caution, especially when delivering packages to the door.”
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Removing these stickers may do more harm than good, as your mail service can be halted if your carrier feels unsafe. Not only does this affect the home of the dog owner, but it also applies to the entire neighborhood, the USPS said in a previous press release . Service isn’t restored in these instances “until the aggressive dog is properly restrained.”
At the end of the day, these stickers are put in place to “reduce the risk of dog bites and attacks that occur while delivering mail,” which is just another reason you should leave the sticker on your mailbox.
“We all love our dogs,” Kimberly Tilley , acting postmaster for Winston-Salem, told WGHP. “We love our animals, but we … have to take responsibility to protect the carrier and the people around us as well from our animals.”
Tilley added that dog bites are more common than you think, and they can be traumatic for carriers. “Once a carrier has been bit, it sets some fear in them long term for the rest of their life,” she told the outlet.
However, although these stickers are strongly recommended, if you object to having a sticker placed on your mailbox, you can opt out , Kyle Stevens , Southwest Carrier Annex station manager in South Dakota, told KELO in 2021. To do so, the first step would be to contact your local post office.
This story has been updated to include additional entries, fact-checking, and copy-editing.
