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 the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- People have been saying this in most months since July 2026.
- It is not one crowd: 5 people on Reddit and 1 on Stack Exchange ran into the same thing.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Contacting bank fraud departments to change account numbersDid this help you?
- 2Using bank bill-pay systems so the bank mails checks using their account numbersDid this help you?
- 3Mailing checks exclusively from inside the post office lobby instead of outdoor mailboxesDid this help you?
- 4Switching to electronic funds transfers, credit cards, or direct debitsDid this help you?
- 5Letting the business department and bank handle the investigationDid this help you?
- 6Filing a report with the local police or the USPISDid this help you?
- 7Contacting the bank or financial service provider (like BankMobile) to verify if the check was cashedDid this help you?
- 8Asking the college or financial institution to place a stop payment or reissue the checkDid this help you?
- 9Waiting for the mail to eventually deliver the check after several weeksDid this help you?
- 10Paying a bank fee to put a stop payment or cancel the checkDid this help you?
- 11Coming up with extra funds to cover a replacement payment while waiting for the original to clear or be refundedDid this help you?
- 12Escalating the issue up the management chain at the issuing institutionDid this help you?
- 13Filing a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)Did this help you?
- 14Contacting the Department of Labor (DOL)Did this help you?
- 15Filing a police reportDid this help you?
- 16Calling multiple departments across the different banks involvedDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“i'm not really sure what to do now or who to call. they put my school account on hold till i pay them back but i do not have the money they claim to have sent me. how would i even prove that i never received the check?”source ↗
“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 ↗
“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 ↗
“I dont know what to do. I rolled over a 401k from betterment to corebridge and the PO box was off by 1 number. The check was cashed with a stamp by jpmchase on the back. Corebridge never received it and chase wont deal with me directly to locate the check.”source ↗
“Im worried the money is gone for good.”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 ↗
“Hello, last week I signed (electronically) a lease to rent property for a new business I am starting. I mailed a bank check for $20,000 to the address, and it has been exactly a week, and the check has not arrived yet.”source ↗
“So yesterday I went to my bank and they said it takes 90 days to cancel the check and get a new one. I don't have the money right now to cover it.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 11Do I have to return an accidental double payment?
- 3Why won't the school explain how stolen property was recovered?
- 2How to get banks to take responsibility for wire fraud and scams
- 5Tenant taking other people's packages in the building
- 2Why does the bank hold checks for so long?
- 2Etsy refunded the buyer but the package arrived