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Posted on 10/25/2026 9:22:38 AM PDT by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
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Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
The Mark of the Beast will be much safer.
Just made a Donation to FReeper by Mail
And I’m nervous now....
.
Oh Well...
Pray for Me!
Something that bugs me is how much utilities and such charge for paying online versus mailing it.
For someone with a bunch of forever stamps it seems like the companies would prefer payment online rather than the envelopes and opening them, and handling checks, instead they charge you a lot.
True. Even paying car registration cost an extra $60 in my state. Absurd.
I stopped mailing checks a few years ago. Zelle and Venmo made that happen for me. If I must send a check, then it goes by overnight envelope.
I’ve never seen my bill higher online than mailing.
Fwiw, the local council on aging, including meals on wheels, still has you hand the meals delivery person collecting checks!
They do not even have webpages.
Not the bill, the processing fee for paying online.
“Zelle and Venmo made that happen for me. “
How hard is it to keep track of your account with Zelle and Venmo?
What about billing errors? I had a problem earlier this year when they handled it wrong on their end, and part of what helped me was a copy of the check in the banks system that I could easily access.
Nowadays, a crooked sort of character doesn’t even need to steam the sealed envelope open to peek inside.
I used to see that method on old black & white mystery movies. One movie was ‘Charade (1963) In Alfred Hitchcock’s caper, ‘Reggie’ (Audrey Hepburn) discovers the truth about her late husband’s stolen fortune.”
There are other ways to decipher the contents.
Closer and closer to digital currency and the mark, then authorities are in total control which is what they want. Your life will not be yours.
“Thieves pull checks from residential mailboxes and fish them out of USPS drop boxes. Larger operations steal entire bags of mail.”
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.
In the last 6 years I have experienced 6 attempts at electronic fraud and zero incidents with checks. Three credit cards had to be cancelled and replaced. O with checks.
Best risk reduction to stollen mailed checks - give it to clerk at the postal window or drop in the postal box inside the post office. Also, never write a check for an in-store purchase, except for purchasing a brand-new automobile from the dealership. They have that check vacuumed out of your bank account before you drive off the lot!
On-line payments are much easier & convenient.
I guy I know is a bank officer. He suggests using an anti-fraud pen when writing checks. Fraudsters will try to “wash” checks to change the amount and the payee. Ink from these special pens is difficult to wash.
He specifically recommended the uniball 207 pen. It’s available on Amazon.
I know, I know, my Tin Foil may be wrapped too tight.
BUT.
When I see things like this my cynical brain automatically goes to:
“Oh, this is a propaganda piece, an influential nudge piece, to make people more worried and afraid of paper checks and money, so we move faster into completely digital finances”.
Or something like that.
Anyone else?
During the “peaceful protests,” I seem to recall twice having mailed checks not reaching their destinations in Philadelphia. A coincidence perhaps but also a potential culprit.
We don’t use Zelle and Venmo for paying bills, but I don’t send my kids checks in the mail for birthdays or anniversaries anymore. The money comes out of my account and goes to whomever I’m paying directly. It shows up as a transfer and includes the name. We also do this with friends if one of us buys tickets to an event and then instead of a check to pay each other back, we use Zelle or Venmo. I’ve never used either of those to pay a bill. For that we use “bill pay” or use a credit card number on a secured website.
Billing errors are headaches. Those are almost always because of a doctor’s office having a poor system. Usually have to go to the office in person to deal with that. Phone conversations never work.
Checks have your bank routing info and your account number on it. The thieves just need that info to cause the problems, not the check. Intercept the check, get that info and then send the check on its way without anyone knowing that you now have that info. How much stuff could you buy or get cash transferred with that info via “e-check” before the victim found out and did something to stop it? Then get someone else’s check and rinse and repeat. There isn’t enough punishment meted out these days for that sort of fraud which won’t deter stupid people.
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