USPS mail theft led to $688M in ‘suspicious activity’ tied to check fraud

The Postal Service’s surge in mail theft cases contributed to hundreds of millions of dollars in suspected check fraud cases last year, according to a recent Treasury Department analysis.

Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) received more than 15,400 reports of suspected mail theft-related check fraud under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) from more than 840 financial institutions between February and August 2023.

FinCEN, in a financial trend analysis of this data, said those mail theft-related check fraud cases amounted to more than $688 million in “suspicious activity.”

The report states that those reports include both completed and attempted transactions.