Apparently, it was my turn..

[gearhead]

The day before we left on our 4 week trip to Virginia I dropped an envelope in the big mailbox in front of our post office with a $400 check to our CPA for tax preparation. Two weeks into the trip our daughter, who is picking up our mail, calls and says we got a bill from the CPA. Hmm..Betty calls the CPA and tells them we have paid. Their response is "we haven't seen it but will look and call you back". They never called back. When we got back home Betty takes another check and gives it to them in person. That was 3 weeks ago.
This morning I'm washing the Bigfoot and Betty comes out and says I need to come inside, we have a big problem. (Everything is a BIG problem for Betty) So she tells me Marsha at the bank called and there is a suspicious check in our account. It seems someone has written a check for $9400 against our account!! What? Yeah, Marsha says we need to come to the bank and close our account and open a new account.
The check number was the same as the number on the check to the CPA. Ding ding ding. I call the CPA and Marsha has already contacted them. Betty calls the police and goes to the station to file a complaint. The CPA says this just happened to someone else. Of course I give the CPA a bit of a hard time about who they have working for them.
Betty looked up the check on our on line bank account. The check was not a bleached check. It looked more like a check for a commercial account. The "writer" had an unusual name and the address listed was a suburb of Houston. No luck googling the name or taxing authority on the address.
Long story short, we will get the $9400 back in our account within 2-20 days. Marsha will cover the account for any checks.
We are minimizing any checks that have to be mailed and using even more electronic banking.
Y'all be careful out there.

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by gearhead

The day before we left on our 4 week trip to Virginia I dropped an envelope in the big mailbox in front of our post office with a $400 check to our CPA for tax preparation. Two weeks into the trip our daughter, who is picking up our mail, calls and says we got a bill from the CPA. Hmm..Betty calls the CPA and tells them we have paid. Their response is "we haven't seen it but will look and call you back". They never called back. When we got back home Betty takes another check and gives it to them in person. That was 3 weeks ago.
This morning I'm washing the Bigfoot and Betty comes out and says I need to come inside, we have a big problem. (Everything is a BIG problem for Betty) So she tells me Marsha at the bank called and there is a suspicious check in our account. It seems someone has written a check for $9400 against our account!! What? Yeah, Marsha says we need to come to the bank and close our account and open a new account.
The check number was the same as the number on the check to the CPA. Ding ding ding. I call the CPA and Marsha has already contacted them. Betty calls the police and goes to the station to file a complaint. The CPA says this just happened to someone else. Of course I give the CPA a bit of a hard time about who they have working for them.
Betty looked up the check on our on line bank account. The check was not a bleached check. It looked more like a check for a commercial account. The "writer" had an unusual name and the address listed was a suburb of Houston. No luck googling the name or taxing authority on the address.
Long story short, we will get the $9400 back in our account within 2-20 days. Marsha will cover the account for any checks.
We are minimizing any checks that have to be mailed and using even more electronic banking.
Y'all be careful out there.

First thing, the USPS has a United States Postal Inspection Service and if you look it up, they would be the ones to notify. I can assure you that the local law enforcement will likely not give a hoot. I had someone use my CC number at four places in San Antonio within an hour for a couple grand. The stores referred me to SAPD who said take it up with Medina County Sheriff which I did; filed a report. The irritating thing is each of these places had the thief on camera and the Medina Co. Sheriff's Office told me it wasn't their problem. Got my money back quickly but kiting checks and stealing CC numbers costs the consumer a zillion dollars a year and no govt. agency seems to give a hoot.

[gearhead]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

First thing, the USPS has a United States Postal Inspection Service and if you look it up, they would be the ones to notify. I can assure you that the local law enforcement will likely not give a hoot. I had someone use my CC number at four places in San Antonio within an hour for a couple grand. The stores referred me to SAPD who said take it up with Medina County Sheriff which I did; filed a report. The irritating thing is each of these places had the thief on camera and the Medina Co. Sheriff's Office told me it wasn't their problem. Got my money back quickly but kiting checks and stealing CC numbers costs the consumer a zillion dollars a year and no govt. agency seems to give a hoot.

USPS Inspectors are on it. Can't remember if our local police contacted them or the bank.
I doubt they will commit much manpower to it.
As you say, they don't give a hoot.
Dang shame.
That's why these lay abouts do it. No consequences.

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by gearhead

USPS Inspectors are on it. Can't remember if our local police contacted them or the bank.
I doubt they will commit much manpower to it.
As you say, they don't give a hoot.
Dang shame.
That's why these lay abouts do it. No consequences.

I think the problem is that the bank always makes good on the funds that were purloined. This gives those investigating the thought that it was more or less a victimless crime. Wish the banks were more proactive doing investigations or hiring those who would be tenacious chasing the miscreants.

I am under the impression that the "fraud" department in most major financial institutions is a bunch of young folks who coordinate with a 3rd party company that monitors credit and debit card use when some software tells them there is a transaction out of the ordinary and and alerts a customer and can put a stop on an account. I don't see much in the way of investigation and believe that the financial organizations look at this fraud as just another cost of doing business. Passes that cost onto, well you might be able to guess.

[sourdough]

I don't use checks anymore....or at least almost. Might have written 4 in the last 14-15mos. There are so many crooks and so many ways to rip folks off that the chances of getting hit are increasing daily. Heck I even closely inspect and run my finger around credit card slots on the little credit machines. I will not use my debit card. Sorry state of affairs. A little side note into some of their thinking I think;

Had some folks run up 14k on my dad's credit card as he was getting worse with Alzheimers but not in the nursing home yet. Identified them...KNEW who they were. Local PD took the report but didn't do a thing. The credit card company sent someone out and they went to those folks place - they didn't do anything either. Brother and I were livid. Credit card folks said that the perpetrators did not have any money or any way to pay. It would cost the card company more to try to get their money than to just let it go....they did. We wonder why the lazies turn to crime....we tempt and encourage them.

[dutchmensport]

We have fraud protection on our banking accounts and by-golly, it works! It's even blocked us form using our own cards on occasion because the system thought there was suspicious activity. Someone did attempt a hack on my wife's Pay Pall. Our bank stopped it from going through. We ended up canceling that specific bank card and got a new number. It was a lot of hassle because we had auto payments on that card (bank card, not a credit card), and has to get everything switched over.

On another occasion, my wife got a letter in the mail from the Indiana Unemployment Office wanting verification of our address because someone was using her information to draw unemployment. We investigated, talked to her human resources department (where she WORKED), and the State Unemployment office. She filled out the paper work for fraud and sent it in. Pretty much, that was it. All good, but still, we learned someone had been collecting unemployment benefits on her for 2 years! And she was full time employed. One would think the company she works for would have at least spotted something was wrong. But, they didn't seem to care either.

Turns out, the fraud was coming from a prison out of California! Imagine that!

[gearhead]

The bank we use is a branch of a fairly large regional bank. They have the resources to investigate the issue. I don't know who would take the lead, the bank or USPS.
All the mail in our town goes to a large Houston postal facility, even if it is addressed to a local destination. No telling where our check got stolen, local or Houston.
We use so few checks Betty can't remember when she last ordered checks. When we mail a check, we use the "safety" envelopes that you can't see through.
I imagine we will be mailing even fewer. If it's local I will be delivering face to face.

[bsmith0404]

All of this is why I have a credit card with a low limit that I use when traveling. I can pay the bill on line and open up more available funds as needed, but prevents someone from running up thousands of dollars of fraudulent charges. Now if I could just get the damn credit card company to stop trying to increase the limit without my permission!! The only checks I write are to myself to transfer money from one bank account to another (my old Stone Age bank only allows transfers to other accounts at the same bank). Although my bank does a great job monitoring for fraud, I still do not like using my debit card for anything. That has access to too much of my money. Which reminds me, I need to call the bank and tell them to not allow access to my savings account with the card.

[flybouy]

We use several banks. One bank bank is fed from one direct deposit and a second bank for other direct deposits ( his & hers). One bank I used when I was traveling for work and it was used only for those expenses thru their Amex card. The company travel reimbursement was direct deposited to that account. We now use that account for personal travel. Made it easy to keep things straight. Another bank we use for strictly for auto pay bills like cable, phones, utility, etc.

While it may sound confusing but we find it very easy to track. One quick look online at any of the accounts and a glance will reveal any unusual activity. We know what belongs there so there's no "guessing" or trying to remember if a line item "belongs" or not. This worked for us but when I was working it was the only way I found to keep my travel (and home office) expenses straight. It wasn't unusual for me to fly to several states, rent cars, eat meals, and stay in hotels in a given week.

Every one of the banks we deal with allows us to set a daily charge or withdraw limit. A few times I've had a cashier at a store where we've made a purchase above that limit make a phone call, tell me the bank needs verification that's it's me before authorization. I don't mind the minor inconvenience for the "extra level" of protection.

I honestly cannot recall the last time I wrote out a check. If someone doesn't accept a credit card I've yet to see them refuse cash. Send a check in mail? No way. If we're sending a b-day, or graduation card thru the mail then a Amex or Visa gift card goes in with it. YMMV

[gearhead]

Spent about 6 hours on line and on the phone today. Social Security, Fidelity (pension), Ameriprise, Betty with Texas Teacher Retirement Service. Fidelity and Ameriprise did instantaneous changes on our deposits to the new account. The soonest Soc Security would do is July, of course. Texas Teacher Retirement requires a form to be mailed. Our bank will deposit to the new account anything that bounces off the old account.
This ain't no fun.

[sourdough]

No, it's no fun. I was notified by the IRS several years back that my identity had been stolen and all the steps I had to go through, it was a real pain. Stops on everything, cancel everything, change everything etc. etc. To this day I can't file a tax return without my special IRS PIN they send me each year.

[bsmith0404]

I was just watching an episode of American Greed about identity theft. One very common way for people to steal identity and conduct check fraud is to drive around rural neighborhoods and look for the flag up on a mailbox. Typically, if the flag is up for outgoing mail, it because the people are mailing a bill payment. They then steel the outgoing mail, get a check and then use that to make fraudulent checks. I had never heard of or thought of anything like that, guess I wouldn’t make a very good thief. Moral of this story, if you live in a rural area, do not place checks in your mailbox. Take them to a USPS drop box.

[gearhead]

The few checks we write, I can't think of one that goes in our mailbox. We will use the big mailbox outside the Post Office though.
We don't live in a rural area, but our town is only 8,500 population. "Rural" is not too far away.
If we lived in the country I would use a P.O. box only.
I'm thinking the deed was related to the Houston postal processing facility.
But, and it's a big but, this is the 2nd time a check theft has occurred with a customer of our CPA firm. Our banker says it took a long time for them to get their money back. I gave the owner a fairly severe line of questioning and was assured that all their employees are local, and they know them well. That really doesn't mean much, if someone wants to steal, they will.

[LHaven]

Keep in mind that just because you stop using paper checks, it still doesn't prevent a fraudster from making one up from your account information and using it. If you use your bank's billpay, they'll make up and mail a paper check for you with all your same account information on it, for recipients they can't pay electronically.

I just got done flushing a "cursed credit card." Starting last Christmas, it started declining charges arbitrarily. Then I'd get a text from my bank saying they suspected fraud and was the charge really me, and when I answered yes, telling me to try again and it would go through now. Problem was that the text came 15 minutes later, after I had already been humiliated, paid for the purchase another way, and long left the store. The declines started coming more and more often, until I got seven in the month of April alone. And these were not for huge amounts or suspicious purchases at the Apple Store or Louboutin, they were for my pool service, prescriptions, a plumber, local fuel, a charity, auto insurance, even an RV park in a state to which I explicitly pre-informed them I would be traveling. More maddeningly, I had a second card of the very same type at the very same bank, which was never dinged once for any reason at all.

The bank tried everything they could to take the card off whatever enemies list it was on, but ultimately was buffaloed. They said this was all VISA HQ, and VISA HQ was being notoriously unhelpful. Finally, I just flushed the card and had it reissued. No problems since.

Even all-digital banking has its annoying and dangerous bugaboos.

[flybouy]

" Keep in mind that just because you stop using paper checks, it still doesn't prevent a fraudster from making one up from your account information and using it. If you use your bank's billpay, they'll make up and mail a paper check for you with all your same account information on it, for recipients they can't pay electronically."

And don't know what your bank does but I know our banks haven't done that for over 40 years. If a bank, or an entity can't handle a EFT then they don't need my buissnes. Even the one horse storage lot we keep our camper at sends a monthly statement via quick books that we pay with a credit card. If a check is the absolutey only form of a one time payment then it will go from my hand to the postman with a receipt and require a signature at delivery.

[LHaven]

Lots of banks still do this. I get paper checks from the banks of my computer assistance clients all the time. Yeah, I take Venmo, Zelle, and whatever, but that's beyond a lot of seniors out here. And at one time, I purposely misspelled the name of our state tax department so that my bank would send them paper checks on a future date I chose, as opposed to a direct transfer which was always same-day-only.

[gearhead]

Originally Posted by LHaven

Lots of banks still do this. I get paper checks from the banks of my computer assistance clients all the time. Yeah, I take Venmo, Zelle, and whatever, but that's beyond a lot of seniors out here. And at one time, I purposely misspelled the name of our state tax department so that my bank would send them paper checks on a future date I chose, as opposed to a direct transfer which was always same-day-only.

Yeah I just asked the Treasury Secretary and calculus teacher in the matching recliner next to me what percentage of our electronic bill pays does the bank have to mail a check to.
More than half.

[flybouy]

I guess I deal with larger merchants when it comes to recurring charges. We haven't had a bank send a paper check for bill pay since the paperboy stopped collecting change for the weekly newspaper delivery.

DW sent a check to a dog breeder in SC a paper check last week for a deposit on a new puppy. First check we've used in a long, long time and first one we've sent in the mail for so many years that I can't recall. The breeder doesn't take a CC or PP and I get it, he's older, doesn't breed often enough for credit card costs. Normally that would have been a deal breaker for us but the breeder we have dealt with for 30 years knows him and recommended him. It was one of his males that sired this breeders litter. While we felt confident in the breeder we still sent the letter registered signature required. DW took a photo of the check, a photo of the envelope after the signature delivery was affixed and messaged it to the breeder. All of this followed text messages between DW and dog breeder with the details on costs, rights to first pick of the litter as our "down payment" will be first. (We learned of the litter the day after they were born from the breeder we use).

Obviously fraud can and does happen constantly. We can only do what is within our control to mitigate it. Anyone can fall prey but the elderly are especially vulnerable. New technologies, reduced cognitive skills, loneliness, etc. can make them prone to predators.

[CaptnJohn]

CG on Florida doesn’t tamed cash. Then they havdd egg a charge for CC processing. They prefer checks

[zhankat]

I used to work for a major bank quite some time ago and worked closely with the fraud department. They had a $$$ threshold ( was about $1000.00 back then) that determined how much work they could put into finding who was responsible... but I knew of many cases that were investigated and prosecuted.. don't think the bank doesn't wasn't to solve it b/c they are stopping future losses. But once you are made whole (got your money back) you are then out of the loop so most investigations that do happen the customer has no knowledge of unless they need you to testify in court.. which was rare back then.