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Due to recent incidents of fraudulent check writing through fishing from public mailboxes in Dedham and Needham this January, local officials have warned the local community to avoid placing any mail in public mailboxes throughout those two towns.
Last week in Dedham, the town’s Treasurer/Collector’s office reported two incidents of “check washings.” In check washing, thieves obtain checks, sometimes by fishing for envelopes from public mailboxes, and replace the originally intended payee’s name with the name of another person, in order to steal the deposit. Check washers may also replace the original payment amount with another, larger payment.
On January 8th, Needham Police similarly alerted the public that U.S. Postal mailboxes throughout Needham were being targeted with mailbox fishing. In Needham, police reported that the culprits are gaining entry to locked mailboxes with keys. They said that targeted mailboxes include “standalone” mailboxes at Great Plain Avenue and Maple Street and Brookline Street and Falcon Street.
Additionally, a Westwood resident of Gay Street reported to Westwood Police three instances of mailbox fishing of checks in in mid-January. On January 11th, the resident informed Westwood Police of attempts by an unknown person(s) to cash two personal checks and one business check. The resident had deposited mail with the three checks in a U.S. Post Office mailbox on Westwood's Washington Street. The check amounts were for $17,634, $12,821 and $9,950. The attempted transactions were all unsuccessful.
People who recently may have used a public mailbox in these areas are advised to their monitor bank statements and activity and to contact police if they learn of any suspicious transaction(s).
Additionally, Dedham Police advises that protective steps to avoid becoming a victim of mailbox fishing include:
- Avoiding the placement of payments into public mailboxes;
- Bringing mail with check payments directly to the post office;
- Monitoring accounts to ensure payments are made to the intended payee and in the correct amount;
- Using secure online bill pay instead of printed checks;
- Never leaving mail in your mailbox overnight;
- When on vacation, have your mail held by the U.S. Post Office or picked up by someone you trust;
- Contacting your bank immediately upon finding any errors with your account.
