SYLVANIA, Ohio — Sylvania police are investigating several incidents in which victims lost thousands of dollars after attempting to mail checks.
According to a report from the Sylvania Township Police Department, an officer spoke with a victim on Dec. 5 who said she had mailed a check for $25 to a local food bank. The victim said she dropped the check off in the blue mailbox at the Bancroft and Holland-Sylvania post office on Sept. 1.
The victim told police the date of the check had been altered to Dec. 4, the name had been changed and the amount was altered to $9,000. The check had been deposited via mobile deposit, police said. The victim provided police with a copy of the original check with the number matching the washed check.
The bank and the post office were notified, both of which have started investigations.
Similarly, a business director said an unauthorized $9,600 was deducted from her bank account on Dec. 4 from a check that was initially written for $190. An employee had dropped off the initial check at the post office near Bancroft and Holland-Sylvania on Nov. 14.
According to the victim, the check that was deposited appeared to be a forgery, with information and a signature copied from the valid check. The check cleared on Nov. 28, according to the police report.
Police investigated another alleged check washing incident on Dec. 8, when a victim told police his wife dropped a check into a mailbox at 5151 Monroe Street on Dec. 5. The check was initially written for a $500 donation to a local charity.
The victim told police the check was deposited the following day for $4,800 via mobile deposit under a different name. The date had also been changed to Dec. 6 on the check.
These incidents are in addition to several other claims of washed checks in the area in past months. In September, a victim was out over $1,100 after four money orders mailed through the Bancroft and Holland-Sylvania mailbox were allegedly stolen.
Again in late September, a victim told police he mailed a $48 check in the Bancroft and Holland-Sylvania mailbox, which was deducted two months later for $2,500 via mobile deposit.
The Sylvania Township Police Department provided the following statement in response to the incidents:
"Many areas around the country continue to have issues with the theft of mail from blue United States Postal Service collection boxes. This includes the collection boxes outside of actual Post Office locations.
In addition to the actual theft, you might incur late fees due to your payments not reaching their intended destination. Checks also may be "washed", where the handwritten portion is erased and then made out to someone else for much more than the original dollar amount. The most secure practice to combat mail theft is to drop off your outgoing mail and packages inside of your local Post Office."
Customers are encouraged to report stolen mail as soon as possible by submitting an online complaint to the Postal Inspection Service at www.uspis.gov/report or by calling 877-876-2455.
The reward for information regarding theft of mail or postal service property is $100,000.
EARLIER COVERAGE: Thieves are stealing personal checks from blue postal boxes
Editor's note: The above story has been edited to include a statement from the Sylvania Township Police Department.
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