What to do when mailed checks are stolen and cashed
When a mailed check is stolen and fraudulently cashed, you need to contact your bank immediately to address the security breach and decide whether to close the compromised account. This unexpected loss of funds forces you to deal with fraudulent withdrawals and figure out how to securely handle future payments without relying on traditional paper mail.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Contacting bank fraud departments to change account numbers
- 2Using bank bill-pay systems so the bank mails checks using their account numbers
- 3Mailing checks exclusively from inside the post office lobby instead of outdoor mailboxes
- 4Switching to electronic funds transfers, credit cards, or direct debits
- 5Letting the business department and bank handle the investigation
- 6Filing a report with the local police or the USPIS
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“My job (small nonprofit) uses paper checks for expense reimbursement, and issued one to me for a few months of purchases. It got sent to my old address, and was cashed by someone that wasn’t me.”source ↗
“My partner & I pay our rent by mailing two checks in one envelope to the landlord every month. This month, the envelope was apparently stolen from the sending USPS mailbox. Hers was rewritten and cashed fraudulently.”source ↗
“I had checks stolen out of my checkbook and someone used them to get cash out of my account so I went to the bank.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 8Do I have to return an accidental double payment?
- 5Tenant taking other people's packages in the building
- 2Why does the bank hold checks for so long?
- 2Someone took my bag at airport security or on a train
- 2Customer claiming food or packages weren't delivered despite proof
- 6Getting weird scam letters or emails from banks I don't use