Check stolen from Kennebunkport resident business mailbox

Kennebunkport Police are alerting residents and business owners that thieves are on the prowl, raiding mailboxes looking for checks, then copying, altering, and cashing them. Photo of Tammy Wells

Kennebunkport – Police here have informed residents and business owners of the theft of checks from outgoing mail in recent days, and in at least one case, the theft has resulted in the loss of a significant amount of money. .

This happens when people put outgoing mail into residential or business mailboxes. Thieves look for vendor-addressed mail that likely contains checks, steal them, and tamper with checks to cash them, said Kennebunkport Police Chief Craig Sanford.

According to AARP Fraud Watch, the easiest way for criminals to find stolen email is to look for flagged mailboxes.

Some changes are called “check washes” by the US Postal Inspection Service.

The checks were stolen from mailboxes, “washed” with chemicals to remove ink, and rewritten before being used, the Postal Inspection Service said in a news release. Check laundering fraud involves changing the payee’s name and often the amount of the check and fraudulently crediting it.

Thieves make copies of checks and cash them, according to Sanford.

He said in a recent incident in Kennebunkport, a check owner lost “thousands of dollars” to mail theft.

This isn’t the first time such fraud involving mail theft has entered Kennebunkport. In a telephone interview last week, Sanford said several years ago the thief was searching mailboxes for new card offers from his credit card company after the day’s mail arrived. Thieves steal them, apply for cards, and waste them when they arrive.

Check to see if the cleaning activity has been going on for many years. In 1998, the Associated Press reported that a gang of Miami thieves swiped a check from his mailbox, dipped it in ink remover, and rewrote it, earning him $600,000. In all, his 175 victims lost money to the scam.

An online search for check laundering and check theft reports found dozens of news articles from around the country in 2022.

Neighboring community law enforcement said there were no reports of theft from the mailbox.

A spokesperson for the York County Sheriff’s Department, which patrols Arundel, said as of January 19, there had been no reports of mail theft in the community.

Kennebunk Police Lieutenant Chris Russell said in a phone call that day that there were no incidents, especially since Kennebunkport is nearby, but nothing had been reported to their agency at the time. .

Kennebunkport Police recommend that people regularly check their financial activity, do not leave mail in mailboxes overnight, and report theft to authorities.

“It may be worth taking your check to the post office. If you live in a rural area, buy a mailbox with a lock,” says Sanford.

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