More victims of “check washing” are speaking out about their experiences while the U.S. Postal Service remains silent about how it’s addressing the crime that has spiked in Chicago.
The stolen-check scheme involves thieves stealing mail, erasing the ink with chemicals and rewriting the checks for themselves, as the Sun-Times reported Tuesday.
People can avoid being a victim by using gel pens with ink that can’t be removed with chemicals or by avoiding blue mailboxes and depositing mail inside a post office.
Some experts say their suggestions to handle the crime are not being implemented.
“It’s very easy to prevent,” researcher David Maimon said of check washing.
He claims to have first spotted the trend of thieves selling “washed” checks online. He has given USPS suggestions to prevent check washing but hasn’t seen them implemented. “I’m just shocked that law enforcement is not doing enough to prevent this,” Maimon said in an interview last month