Police in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania report that they have seen an increase in mailbox fishing.
How it works is that thieves will “fish” letters out of the mailbox using homemade devices. Typically, what they are looking for are checks people mail, usually an electric or a gas payment, etc. The thieves will then bleach and/or alter the check, increasing the amount and change the name on the “Pay to the Order” line. They will then try to cash or deposit the altered check.
Sometimes the bank catches the scheme before it is too late, but not everyone is as lucky.
Police in several Massachusetts communities have stated that this year they have noticed an uptick in reports of mailbox fishing.
If you are mailing any type of payment in the form of a check, consider mailing it from inside the post office or use one of the new mailboxes that only have a slit to take the mail. This will reduce your chances of being a victim of a mailbox fishing incident.
In New Britain Connecticut I noticed that our mailboxes had been changed to only the slit fantastic So you can slide the mail and.
Poeople who do this are lazy and worthless beings. They deserve to spend the rest of their lives in prison.
They will be freed and never to return to court again. Why not. Everyone else does worse for far less.