HAMBURG, N.Y. (WKBW) — Across Western New York, police are noticing a growing trend. Thieves are stealing checks from mailboxes and cashing them for amounts that are a lot more than you may know.
These checks are being "washed" in a scheme that criss crosses the nation.
The quiet streets of a Hamburg neighborhood, off Camp Road, have become a focus for criminals. They see mailboxes with red flags raised. It's an indication that mail is inside the box.
Crooks are creeping up to the mailbox and stealing checks.
In mid-September, Edward Reska was checking his bank statements and realized, he was short a lot of money.
"I found that on September 23, the check made to American Express 4071 was cashed for $1,675 and that sent a red flag because I know I didn't write a check for that amount yet," Reska said.
But then a check he wrote to the Sisters of Mercy for a ten dollar donation was also cashed. Only, the check was fraudulently cashed for $1,700. Now he's out a total of almost $3,400.
"I'm thinking to myself, I I've heard of people being scammed, but it wouldn't happen to me. It'll happen to somebody else. But I'm too smart for that to happen. And I'm not that smart," Reska said through a laugh.
He's an easy going guy. But it's no laughing matter for police.
In a matter of three weeks, the I-team discovered three different Hamburg homes were hit. Detective Bill Stowell says people in Hamburg have lost a total of $50,000 since July alone.
"For these residents, every penny counts," Stowell said.
This loss is a result of this check theft and crooks using household chemicals, to "wash" away the ink on the check. They are changing the dollar amount to whatever they want. Police say this is a much larger problem.
"For all we know it can be being used for drug trafficking and other things we don't know at this point. That's part of the investigation," Stowell said.
I-Team Investigator Ed Drantch asked if this could be linked to terrorism, too.
"It could be. Yeah, guns, drugs, human trafficking. we don't know," Stowell responded. "It's scary. It really is. And it's something that I am going to do everything I can to follow up on on my own."
I-Team Investigator Ed Drantch: Is Hamburg capable of handling this kind of an investigation?
Hamburg Police Detective Bill Stowell: In cooperation? Well, with other agencies? Absolutely. Yes. I mean, on our own, we don't have the resources. We can't do it alone.
Hamburg police are working with New York State Police and the United States Postal Inspection Service to dismantle this check washing operation.
In some of the cases we've seen, checks are made out to someone and cashed locally.
"Every name that comes up in each case that I have are persons of interest," Stowell said.
Police say they are close to making arrests in these cases. But what can you do to protect yourself in the meantime? Experts say, you should use a gel pen rather than a ball point pen. Use black ink because it's harder to erase.
Edward Reska learned the hard way, his fountain pen won't hold up and wants these crooks taken down.
"You can forgive but you know, to forget, it's kind of hard when when you've been scammed like this. Now, if I don't get the money back that I'll really be mad. If I get the money back, I think it'll be easier to forgive," Reska said.
It's up to you to keep an eye on your bank statements. To keep yourself safe, the United State Postal Inspection Service recommends:
- you put your outgoing mail in a blue collection box
- bring your mail to a post office or
- hand it directly to a letter carrier.
This prevents criminals from stealing mail from mailboxes with the red flag, up.
