Rural Mailbox Warning

[M. Henley]

Over the President's Day (Feb 15) weekend the KY Legislature was not in session on that Monday, so Rita and I did not leave for the Capitol until 6 AM on Tuesday.

On that Saturday I wrote checks for numerous bills that had come in since the previous weekend and stupidly put them in the rural mailbox with the red flag raised. For most of the bills I used my official stationary envelopes (which I personally pay for), but used providor enveloopes for two of the bill payments.

Last weekend I received a bill from AT&T Yellow Pages for my corporate Yellow Pages ad and the bill was for 2 months, complaining that I was late with the February bill. Knowing that I had paid it, I looked at the business checkbook stubs, and sure enough there it was. Since the bank statement had come in I double checked to see if the check had cleared. Horror!! Rather than $61.42 the check was listed to Wal Mart for $686.33. Thinking that perhaps I had made a mistake in posting I looked at the date, and the date the check had been presented at the cashier stand I was in the state Capitol.

Next I opened my campaign account checing account statement, and the one check I had written this year for something over $600 for campaign pens (getting ready for the November election) was listed as Wal Mart for $131.22.

Fortunately my bank is open on Saturday mornings, and as luck would have it, the Assistant VP who also handles bank security was working (he is a loan officer: Small town bank). He took my statement, the copies of the check listings that I had made, and filled out his report.

Next I went to the local Wal Mart and, luck again, the store security lady was working that Saturday. She took the check copies which I had made, and the notes that I had written explaining and outlining the sequence of events (not expecting the head of security to be working on Saturday).

Next, the Murray PD where a Sergeant took my statement and filled out a report.

I figured that I had just paid out something over $700 in tuition to the school of life/hard knocks and had learned that I should henceforth take all my bills to the U. S. Post Office for mailing. The thought also occurred to me that I had been fortunate in that the theif obviously thought the bills in my personal stationary envelopes were just correspondence and thus left them in the mailbox, taking only the two in the providor envelopes.

Much to my surprise, the Detective assigned to the case called me yesterday to report that the bank had assumed the loss, putting the funds back in my accounts, and that the bank would be the agrieved party. He indicated that the two Wal Mart stores (both over the state line in two different, but nearby, Tennessee towns) involved were reviewing video security tapes, cash register records, etc. and that it should be possible to find the guilty party.

In any case, tuition or not, I will henceforth take my bills to the post office for mailing!!

[Bill4728]

This is a great warning to be sure you alway use a secure mail drop box.


We have significantly reduced the amount of bills we mail out since we went to paying almost every bill with our free online bill pay.

One nice feature is to set payment date. Since most bills are paid to the companies by electronic transfer, the bills money is taken from our account the day before the bill is due. So we can on Mar 17th pay a bill due April 3rd and the money is taken from my account Apr 2nd. Also, we have set up an autopay on bills like our mortgage & car payment so they automatically pay the banks the day before they are due in the correct amount.

One last thing, most online bill pay allow you to pay anything online. So if you need to pay someone like your local homeowners assoc, you can due it online too. BUT instead of one day electronic payments, the bank at no extra cost to you, writes a check and mails it 5 days before the due date.

[falmouth3]

You got lucky!

I also have stopped putting checks in my mailbox for pickup. If that's unavoidable for you, I've read that the "gel" pen's writing can't be washed off a check so that's a bit of insurance. But the thief can still get your bank numbers off the check and do something underhanded with them.

I've just ordered new checks and I'm having them delivered to work instead of home. It seems that a number of places now have billing address and delivery address locations on the order form. I've stepped up a number of practices so that I don't become a victim.

Sue

[longtimer]

How could a check, written to a third party, be cashed at a WalMart? And, even stranger, cashed for different amounts than face value. Seems to me WalMart should be held accountable for this mistake. Perhaps the WalMart person who cashed the check got a take of the proceeds.
PS - Good luck in the election!

[TravelBug]

Originally Posted by longtimer

How could a check, written to a third party, be cashed at a WalMart? And, even stranger, cashed for different amounts than face value. Seems to me WalMart should be held accountable for this mistake. Perhaps the WalMart person who cashed the check got a take of the proceeds.
PS - Good luck in the election!

Not sure how it's done, but they "wash" the check, creating a blank check. I got some pens at Costco advertised as non-washable for use in check writing. They are gel-type pens. I've stopped mailings from my mailbox years ago as we periodically suffer from mail theft.

[bigfrank]

Originally Posted by TravelBug

Not sure how it's done, but they "wash" the check, creating a blank check. I got some pens at Costco advertised as non-washable for use in check writing. They are gel-type pens. I've stopped mailings from my mailbox years ago as we periodically suffer from mail theft.

This was a big thing years back,

I do not even remeber the last time I wrote a check, All my bills are paid online now.

[TravelBug]

I don't trust the security to do on-line banking, but then again, checks get stolen, other stuff happens. I guess it depends on your comfort level and where you feel more secure. Years ago when I used to get replacement checks delivered to me in the mail, the box arrived mangled and taped over with one book co checks missing. It wasn't fun closing the account...

[Pat H]

Actually WalMart should take the loss. Your bank will send them back as altered payee/amount. Didn't WalMart take ID to see if the person presenting the check was the maker? They should have.

[M. Henley]

All I know, as I am in the State Capitol and not at home, is what the Detective told me over the phone. He indicated that my bank was refunding the money and they would become the agrieved party, taking me out of the loop.

He did indicate that surveillance video was being reviewed and that it should be easy to identify who the crook was (which may, or may not, be the case).

[longtimer]

Originally Posted by TravelBug

Not sure how it's done, but they "wash" the check, creating a blank check. I got some pens at Costco advertised as non-washable for use in check writing. They are gel-type pens. I've stopped mailings from my mailbox years ago as we periodically suffer from mail theft.

Wow - I had no idea this was possible! Seems to me it'd be a lot less trouble to simply take the account number from the check and use it to access the account and take the funds.