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Posted on 05/08/2026 1:06:28 PM PDT by DFG
It's a list no one wants to be on, and it's growing in a North Texas city.
Authorities believe more than 80 people since February have had their mail, which included checks, stolen from a post office in Plano.
The vast majority of the thefts have happened at one postal location, and both victims and authorities are concerned that the crime could be an inside job involving postal employees.
The U.S. Post Office on W. Parker Road is a place Jim Frankenfield no longer feels comfortable even approaching.
"I stopped using it, don't even go near it," he said.
Patty and Jim Van Allen feel the same way.
"Something's going on inside the post office," said Patty Van Allen.
Victims' checks being cashed in postal scam
The decades-old post office is now the subject of local and federal investigations, according to CBS News Texas sources.
There have been 72 police reports filed in the past three months alone, complaining that mailed checks have been stolen and washed by criminals who are cashing them for tens of thousands of dollars.
"I had 15 letters stolen out of the mail, and three of them were washed for incredible amounts of money," Frankenfield said. "We all deposited inside the mail slots, and mine was after 5 o'clock, so it's gotta [sic] be an inside job."
Frankenfield is not the only one worried that someone working inside the building is stealing mail and committing massive check fraud.
"So, what they're doing is, they're recruiting people to infiltrate the Postal Service to steal mail," said Frank Albergo, president of the Postal Police Officers' Association.
He believes the problem is related to a U.S. Postal Service decision to hire non-career employees to work in its mail centers.
CBS News Texas found in the USPS OIG's Fall 2024 Semiannual Report to Congress that "… recently, there has been a growing threat. Criminal organizations are targeting, recruiting, and colluding with postal employees to move narcotics through the postal network and to steal checks — both personal and government-issued checks."
The USPS OIG's Spring 2025 Semiannual Report to Congress said that, "...internal mail theft was PREVALENT in processing facilities around the country due to a lack of a nationwide policy restricting personal belongings on the workroom floor, which can be used to conceal stolen mail."
"For them to say prevalent, it has to be really bad," said Albergo.
Recent arrest and investigations of mail theft
Just last month, Carrollton Police arrested two people driving a stolen U-Haul truck that led officers on a high-speed chase while carrying a load of stolen mail.
CBS News Texas has documented how overstuffed collection boxes and robberies of letter carriers for their keys have made mail theft easier for criminals.
The likelihood that criminals have now found their way inside post offices could erode public trust in the government agency.
"We were a little surprised how heavy it is because they were dropped off on the inside," said Jerry Minton with the Plano Police Department.
Plano Police has handed over its cases to the postal service inspection office, which declined CBS News Texas's request for an interview, only saying in a statement:
"The USPS OIG considers the allegations of theft of U.S. Mail by any Postal Service employee to be a very serious issue. When such allegations are made, USPS OIG special agents vigorously investigate those allegations," said Roxanne Dukes, assistant special agent in charge, public information officer, USPS Office of Inspector General.
The Van Allens had a nearly $4,000 check to pay taxes stolen from the mail. They said they dropped it off at the Wildcat station in Plano.
It's taken weeks for their bank to refund their money.
"I kind of just let it go because I thought there wasn't anything we could do about it, other than get the word out, but he's been obsessing about it," said Patty Van Allen.
Other victims, like Frankenfield, who lost $15,000, are still up to their ears in paperwork to get their money back after thinking they were being extra careful by dropping off their mail inside facilities.
"I took them inside thinking that was safe," he said. "It used to be great; lately, it's a piece of garbage the way it's run."
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And some here refuse to use internet bill pay preferring to send their checks in the mail.
Potential of mail theft is why I pay bills online and also why if I ever have to vote absentee I’ll hand carry the ballot to the elections office.
Checks like that should be sent certified and insured. I hope that’s what they did.
I understand that using gel pens to write checks keeps them from being successfully “washed.”
I had a check washed last year, thankfully was reimbursed. It was a check to the IRS for taxes! So grateful I caught it.
The safest way to send anything is by registered mail. While it’s supposed to e only for valuables, I’ve used it to send documents and keeping the letter open until I can write the registration number on the letter itself.
EVERYONE in the postal system has to sign for that letter as it moves through the system. That means there’s a chain of custody.
I wouldn’t use it for a normal check. Anything for thousands I would.
The downside is it means a longer delivery time.
“Because the mail never stops! It just keeps coming and coming and coming. There’s never a letup, it’s relentless. Every day it piles up more and more and more, and you gotta get it out, but the more you get it out, the more it keeps coming in!”
[NEWMAN!!!!]
> I understand that using gel pens to write checks keeps them from being successfully “washed.” <
A bank officer told me the same thing. He recommended “Uniball 207” pens. They are available on Amazon. The ink evidently seeps deep into the paper, making it difficult to wash away.
Hmmmm....
Yes! Gel ink pens foil the washing purpose.
When we must mail a check - which is rare- the gel ink pens foil is used.
So sad it is happening inside.
A lot of people avoid my post office and pay for boxes elsewhere rather than use their free box at this PO because the woman has her likes and dislikes and interferes with the mail of those she doesn’t like, and her moods determine her behavior.
One more reason to put the postal service in charge of delivering ballots that decide our election, right?
I’ve had registered mail “disappear.”
I have used Internet to pay all bills for 25 years. Some people trust mail more than internet. 🙄🙄
I login to Social security and IRS Web sites. They seem very secure. But why is voting system so replete with antiquated systems saturated with fraud?
I pay almost everything online. But back in the old days, I never sent a check for a $100 utility bill ‘certified and insured’.
You do understand what ‘check washing’ is, don’t you?
https://www.uspis.gov/news/scam-article/check-washing
The thief changes the payee and dollar amount on a check, and then cashes it.
I wonder if there’s a connection between the post office thefts and that mosque? That could possibly open a good reason to shut them down.
USPS are notorious for stealing mail. And people say they wouldn’t tamper with election ballots. Ha!
From last week:
“Postal workers stole more than $4.9M worth of checks, gift cards, credit cards sent in mail”
“ATLANTA — Four individuals face federal charges following their alleged involvement in a scheme to steal valuable items from the mail, including a $4.9 million U.S. Treasury check.
The accused include two former U.S. Postal Service mail carriers, a former Alpharetta assistant bank manager, and a convicted felon. All four are scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday.
The charges stem from alleged activities that occurred between March 2020 and September 2025.”
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