Still sending checks in the mail? It's time to stop. It can be risky

Palm Beach Post ^ | September 5, 2026 | Daniel de Visé

[ConservativeStatement]

Every time you send a paper check in the mail, consumer advocates say, you're putting your bank account at risk.

Check fraud is rising, even as the number of checks in circulation is declining. In 2025, federal data shows, Americans lost more money to check fraud than to debit card or gift card scams.

Consumers are writing fewer checks these days, but the amounts are larger, and thieves know it.

"Criminals know that when they see a check in the mail, it's less likely to be a $10 check and more likely to be a $10,000 check," said Scott Anchin, senior vice president of strategic initiatives and policy at the Independent Community Bankers of America.

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TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: checks; mail; theft

[escapefromboston]

Be afraid of everything
Don’t use checks or cash
Pay the convince fee !

[BipolarBob]

I just send IOUs in the mail with my mark.

[Real Cynic No More]

I’ve had several instances where hackers have had direct withdrawals/charges - all electronic - from my checking and different credit card accounts. Thankfully, they were small amounts. But absolutely no check fraud. Thank you, but i’ll continue writing checks.

[EastTexasTraveler]

But mail-in ballots are completely secure.

[PeterPrinciple]

checks the bank mails are just as vulnerable.

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checks the bank mails might not have your acct number but they can be stolen?

[ridesthemiles]

UTILITY COMPANIES ARE CHARGING FOR ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS-—BUT NOT FOR CHECK PAYMENTS.

I HAVE PAID BILLS BY CHECK SINCE 1957. 69 YEARS. NOT CHANGING.

I HAVE A BANK STATEMENT WITH A COPY OF THE CHECK FOR MY RECORDS.

2 NEIGHBORS HAD THE SAME ISSUE THIS PAST YEAR:

THEY HAVE AUTOMATIC ELECTRONIC PAYMENT ON THEIR ACCOUNTS ===
PLENTY OF $$$$$$ IN THE ACCOUNTS.

GOT SHUT OFF NOTICES AND HAD TO ARGUE WITH THE UTILITY ABOUT WHOSE ERROR IT WAS.

[MachIV]

Louisville Gas & Ekectric will let you pay online but they require you to pay by checking account, not credit card. I use auto-Pay.

[MachIV]

More of my mail has been lost in the last 6 years than the rest of my 59 years combined and all of it had a check in it. One piece of mail had a gift card. Some thief somewhere got $30;worth at Burger King.

[EinNYC]

I have my bank send out checks to payees. That way, it’s all in one place, I get an image of canceled checks if necessary, and I save on postage and envelopes.

[LFOD]

I use nothing but Uniball 207 pens. The ink becomes one with the paper and cannot be washed out with acetone.
Thank you Frank Abignale..... his videos are great.

[doorgunner69]

So, do it all online so hackers can steal your financial information?

[Brian Griffin]

I try to keep no more than $400 in my checking account.

To pay property tax or Medicare premiums, I transfer the money in from my savings account to my checking account and then pay online from the checking account within a day.

[blackdog]

Kinda missing the bigger concern, eh?

If you F#%ck with the mail, it's a 20 year felony. How about we just enforce the law?

[Colorado Doug]

Thank goodness that voting by mail is secure. /s

[lastchance]

I am considering a return to sending checks to pay bills. I guess I better stick to amounts under 10 grand.

I also have a feeling that a majority of check thieves are postal workers themselves.

[lastchance]

“There are banking regulations that protect fraudulent passing of checks. And last I knew, negotiable instrument fraud (Checks) is faster to resolve than fraudulent electronic transactions.”

I thought that was the case. Thanks for the information.

[rlmorel]

In my town, if you want to pay your taxes (property, excise, water, and sewer, etc.) it cost $50 more with each payment.

Screw that. I would pay online, but I’m not doing that.

[blueunicorn6]

I’m not writing all those $10,000 checks.

[rlmorel]

I know the credit card companies and other companies try like hell to move you off paying in a manual process with mail. It is cheaper for them to send out emails.

Or, not send out emails at all, and then surcharge customers when they don’t get the notice to pay.

Four years now, I have been in a running battle with many entities who try as hard as they can to make me abandoned Paper bills and the US mail, even to the point where they simply switch me and think I won’t notice. And they make it so that you have to call them to get it switched back.

Oh yeah, it really bugs me. But I make damn sure I do it. What is good for them, it’s not necessarily what is good for me.

[Glad2bnuts]

I write checks and mail them for a property payment, which is in a PO Box in the name of the Corporation. It seems safe to me. I go to the Utilities and walk in once a month and pay, and digitally pay insurance and garbage bills.

My Credit Union notifies me instantly for purchases to unknown people or places. IDK about banks, but I love my C.Union.