Check Fraud Is Surging: How to Protect Your Money

I'll be honest: I thought check fraud was a thing of the past. Who even writes checks anymore? Turns out, a lot of people. And criminals know it.

According to FinCEN (the Treasury Department's financial crimes unit), banks filed 682,276 Suspicious Activity Reports related to check fraud in 2024 alone. That's roughly one report every 46 seconds. Total losses from check fraud in the Americas hit $21 billion in 2023, and the numbers have only climbed since. The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General reported more than 800,000 mail theft complaints between fiscal years 2023 and 2025.

So yeah, this old-school crime is very much alive. Here's what you need to know about it and, more importantly, how to keep your money safe.

How check washing works

The scheme is embarrassingly simple. A thief steals a check from your mailbox (or from a blue USPS collection box, which aren't as secure as they look). Then they use common household chemicals, usually acetone or bleach, to dissolve the ink. The payee name and dollar amount disappear, but the signature and account information stay put. The thief rewrites the check to themselves or an accomplice, often bumping a $47 utility payment up to $4,700.

There's a reason criminals prefer this over more sophisticated fraud. A washed check is a real check, printed on real security paper, with a real signature. It passes inspection at banks far more often than you'd expect.

Business checks are the most valuable targets. They tend to be drawn on well-funded accounts, and it can take longer for the business owner to notice something is off. But personal checks are stolen constantly too, especially from residential mailboxes with the red flag raised (that flag is basically an advertisement that outgoing mail is waiting to be picked up).

The mailbox problem

Most check fraud starts with mail theft. Criminals target both residential mailboxes and those standalone blue USPS collection boxes. Some use stolen postal keys. Others simply pry open older boxes.

The Postal Inspection Service has increased arrests in recent years, but the volume of complaints keeps growing. And here's what makes it particularly frustrating: you might not find out your check was stolen for weeks. The original check never arrives at its destination, so you assume it's still in transit. Meanwhile, a washed version has already been cashed.

Seven ways to protect yourself

1. Stop mailing checks when you can

This is the single most effective step. Every major bank offers free online bill pay. Most landlords, utilities, and service providers accept ACH transfers. If you can pay electronically, do it. No physical check means nothing to steal.

I still write maybe two or three checks a year (my HOA is stuck in 2003). But I've moved everything else online, and you should too.

2. Use a gel pen, specifically

This one sounds like folklore, but it's backed by real testing. The Uni-Ball 207 gel pen uses pigmented ink that bonds with paper fibers. In laboratory tests, its black ink was completely unaffected by acetone, rubbing alcohol, and mineral spirits. Regular ballpoint ink washes right off.

A pack of Uni-Ball 207 pens costs about $12. That's a small price for ink that can't be chemically erased. If you write checks at all, keep one of these in your desk drawer.

3. Never leave outgoing mail in your mailbox overnight

If you must mail a check, don't put it in your residential mailbox with the flag up and walk away. That flag tells everyone, including thieves, that there's outgoing mail waiting. Instead, drop the envelope directly into a blue USPS collection box right before the last scheduled pickup, or hand it to a postal worker at the counter inside the post office.

Avoid dropping mail in a collection box late at night. Thieves target them during off-hours, sometimes using fishing tools (yes, that's a real thing) to pull envelopes out through the mail slot.

4. Fill out every field on the check

Write the dollar amount in words across the entire line, and draw a line through any remaining space. This makes it much harder for someone to alter the amount. Leave nothing blank.

5. Set up account alerts

Most banks let you turn on real-time notifications for check activity. Set alerts for any check posted to your account, and review them immediately. If you see a check number you don't recognize or an amount that doesn't match your records, call your bank that day. Speed matters: the faster you report it, the better your chances of recovering the money.

6. Use Positive Pay if your bank offers it

Positive Pay is a service where you tell your bank in advance which checks you've written (check number, amount, payee). When a check comes in for payment, the bank compares it against your list. Anything that doesn't match gets flagged and held until you approve or reject it. This is more common for business accounts, but some banks offer it for personal accounts too. Ask yours.

7. Consider a locking mailbox

If you live in a house with a curbside mailbox, a locking mailbox (usually $30 to $150) eliminates the casual grab. Mail carriers can drop mail through a slot, but nobody can reach in and pull it out without a key. It won't stop a determined thief with tools, but it removes the easy opportunity. Most mail theft is opportunistic.

What to do if you're a victim

If you discover a check was stolen or washed, move quickly.

First, call your bank and report the fraud. Under the Uniform Commercial Code, your bank is generally liable for paying a check that was materially altered, but you typically need to report the problem within 30 days of receiving your statement. Some banks try to shorten that window, so check your account agreement.

Second, file a report with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at uspis.gov if the check was stolen from the mail. This is a federal crime, and they investigate it.

Third, file a police report with your local department. You'll need the report number for your bank's fraud investigation.

Fourth, check your credit reports. Check washing sometimes leads to broader identity theft if the criminal has your account number and other personal details from the stolen mail.

Recovery can take time. Banks are supposed to begin investigating within 10 business days, but getting your money back can take weeks or even months. In some documented cases, full recovery took nearly six months. Keep copies of everything you file.

The bottom line

Check fraud feels like it should be a relic, but it's a $21-billion-a-year problem and growing. The fix is mostly behavioral: pay electronically whenever possible, use the right pen when you can't, and never let outgoing mail sit unattended. These are small changes, but they close the door on one of the oldest financial crimes around.