The old line “the check is in the mail” is starting to sound less reassuring and more like a warning. In Northern California, a Los Altos couple mailed a property tax check for nearly $28,000 and later learned that thieves had altered it and cashed it.
ABC7 reported that Wells Fargo denied their claim, citing a 30 day reporting window tied to the bank statement. Another customer, Kathy Pham of San Jose, lost $2,400 in a similar scheme before later getting reimbursed after an appeal.
How altered checks can slip past customers
What makes this story hit harder is the detail many customers may miss. The homeowners said their monthly statement showed the amount and the date, but not who actually got the money unless they opened the check image itself.
Wells Fargo’s current deposit account agreement says customers must review statements carefully, including paid check images, and report unauthorized transactions within 30 days after the statement is made available.
Who actually opens every scanned check one by one after paying property taxes, utilities, or a contractor bill? For most people, that is not how everyday banking works. But that gap is exactly where fraud can hide.
Mail theft and check fraud are getting worse
This is also bigger than one bank dispute. It is analog money running into digital-age fraud. The FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service warned in January 2025 that suspicious activity reports tied to check fraud nearly doubled from 2021 to 2023.
FinCEN later said financial institutions filed 15,417 reports on mail theft-related check fraud in a six month period, tied to more than $688 million in suspicious activity. By FinCEN’s own analysis, 44 percent of stolen checks were altered and then deposited.
In practical terms, that means a check dropped into a mailbox can be changed, deposited, and drained before a customer realizes anything is off.
USPS advice for safer bill payments
Postal inspectors have been urging people to change habits. USPS says customers should follow up quickly on overdue mail, avoid leaving important letters sitting around, and use safer mailing options for sensitive items.
A newer USPS and ABA Foundation release pushes that even further, advising customers to use the letter slots inside a Post Office or hand mail directly to a carrier, then monitor accounts for suspicious activity. For large payments, that advice no longer sounds excessive. It sounds current.
The press release was published on United States Postal Inspection Service.
