Thief Steals Thousands From Elderly SF Woman as USPS Warns of Rise In Check-Washing

The US Postal Service is urging people to reconsider sending checks through the mail amid a surge in check-washing schemes, warning that its blue collection boxes are also being targeted by thieves.

The warning comes after San Francisco resident Kyung Cha Moon had three checks stolen from the mail, including a $118 payment that was altered to $4,118. As ABC 7’s 7 on Your Side reports, thieves also intercepted property tax payments, replacing Moon’s name with their own and depositing the checks into a credit union account.

Moon’s son, Mitchell Mun, said the alterations were immediately apparent once the family saw the check images, but recovering the stolen money was a challenge. BMO initially reimbursed the family for two of the checks, while the third remained unresolved until the bank eventually reimbursed the full amount.

“This is altered. This is fraud. This is forgery,” Mun said.

The family’s experience coincides with a rise in mail theft that reportedly began during the pandemic. Per 7 on Your Side, US Chief Postal Inspector Brendan Donahue told Congress that the Postal Service saw a significant increase in theft from mail receptacles beginning in 2020 and continuing through 2023.

Postal officials have also warned that blue collection boxes are being targeted, urging people to hand-deliver checks inside post offices. Banks are also encouraging customers to use electronic payments instead of paper checks.

ABC 7 reports that also spoke to South Bay resident Bob Dilfer, who said a thief once changed one of his $100 checks to $6,000, though a bank manager caught the fraud before it went through. After three other checks disappeared in the mail, he stopped payment on them before they could be cashed.

Then Dilfer mailed a check to the IRS and learned eight months later that the agency had never received it. A postal clerk later told Dilfer that three men had allegedly taken an entire bin of mail from a post office loading dock and driven away with it.

Dilfer now sends checks by certified mail and only drops them inside a post office.

Earlier this year, nearly 50 Napa homeowners had property-tax checks stolen from the mail and deposited into accounts across multiple states. The FBI arrested an Arizona man in connection with the scheme, which involved roughly $1.5 million, and most victims recovered their money.

Per ABC 7, banks typically give customers only 30 to 60 days to report check fraud. Experts recommend using an indelible gel pen when writing checks and regularly monitoring bank accounts to catch suspicious transactions quickly.

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