Do Not Send Checks In The Mail Anymore In Colorado

If you are tempted to send someone in Colorado a gift, there are an almost endless number of ways to do so. These days most transactions can be done digitally, which is often a much safer route than sending money the old-fashioned way.

A couple of very clever scams are in play today that involve crooks who can't wait for you to write someone a check and send it off via the US Postal Service.

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Check Fraud Is Rising Dramatically

According to Sentinal Colorado, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network tallied 680,000 complaints from banks in 2022 regarding check fraud. This was up from 350,000 reports in 2021. As the cost of everything increases, so do the checks Americans write to pay for it all. Criminals can't wait to snatch these checks and use the information to make deposits and create fake accounts to cash more checks.

How Do Criminals Steal A Check?

There are two things that criminals or members of organized crime rings would love to do with your paper check. One method of using the check is called "check washing" and the other is known as "Melting Ink".

Check Washing is the most popular method of committing a crime with a paper check. Methods are used to change the payee's name, and they usually try to change the amount of money as well.

Melting Ink is the process of melting the ink off the "to" line on a paper check so that a different name can be written in its place.

This Check Is Going In Mail No Matter What

If you simply must mail a paper check for a special occasion or to pay a bill, you may want to go the extra mile to lower the risk that someone steals it. Don't drop the letter into a mailbox. Enjoy a walk inside the nearest post office and drop it in the outgoing mailbox inside.

Try wrapping the check in a sheet of paper so that someone can't tell the envelope simply contains a check with your personal information.