Brooklyn residents got a weekend wake-up call from local police on Saturday, as officers warned of a sharp uptick in old-school mail theft that is causing very real, very modern headaches. The NYPD’s 70th Precinct says thieves are fishing envelopes out of street mailboxes, then chemically altering checks so they can be cashed under different names. Officers are pushing simple but specific precautions, including dropping payments inside a Post Office and using pigmented ink, to cut down the risk of having money drained from your account.
🚨MAIL FRAUD ALERT🚨 Thieves are stealing mail (“mailbox fishing “) and altering checks (“check washing”) to steal your money. ✅Drop checks/money orders at Post Office ✅Use permanent ink ✅shred voided checks ✅Monitor your bank accounts Stay alert. Protect your finances.💰 https://t.co/hQ1IYrI0fS
— NYPD 70th Precinct (@NYPD70Pct) March 21, 2026
The warning went out in a social media post that spelled out how both “mailbox fishing” and “check washing” work and urged neighbors to take extra care with outgoing payments. The 70th Precinct advised residents to bring checks and money orders inside a Post Office, use permanent pigmented ink, shred voided checks and keep a close eye on bank activity, according to the NYPD 70th Precinct.
How the scams work
In mailbox fishing, thieves lower a sticky line or a hook into a curbside mailbox or blue USPS collection box, then pull up whatever they can snag: checks, gift cards and any other valuable mail. Check washing comes next. Using common household chemicals, thieves erase the payee and amount fields while leaving the original signature in place, then rewrite the checks and deposit or cash them. The low-tech approach has seen a resurgence recently, with the same basic tactics laid out by the NYPD Crime Prevention Division.
How to protect yourself
Officials recommend avoiding residential mailboxes and blue USPS collection boxes for checks whenever possible, unless you can drop them in right before the last scheduled pickup. The safer move is to hand payments directly to a postal clerk or switch to online bill pay. Use indelible, pigmented pens, fill in every line on a check so there is less blank space to tamper with, shred any voided checks and strongly consider moving more payments to electronic options to reduce exposure. Signing up for USPS Informed Delivery and reviewing your bank and credit card statements frequently can help you spot any fraudulent activity early, as noted in federal fraud alerts from IC3 and coverage by CBS New York.
Report thefts and suspicious activity…