Minimize Losses from Stolen Checks

With both mail theft and identity theft on the rise, having checks stolen can be a huge hassle. I know from experience how hard it can be to deal with the aftermath of mail theft. Several years ago, 800 new checks I'd ordered were stolen from my mailbox, along with credit card convenience checks. No matter what kind of paper trail thieves may leave, the unwillingness or inability of law enforcement to pursue them will be frustrating. But it is possible to minimize the damage that theft does to your finances.

In my case, the thieves not only wrote over 50 checks to nearby businesses (all under the amount that would have qualified as a felony), they also wrote a Discover card convenience check for $700 that was deposited at a local bank. I live near Phoenix, a metropolis with several suburban cities, so law enforcement had difficulty determining jurisdiction. Most of the checks were written in neighboring Mesa, but Mesa police said the crime should be reported to Chandler, the city where they were stolen. Chandler's police department said it should be pursued in Mesa.

I even contacted the Postmaster General, who put me on hold to take a report about a robbery in progress at a retirement community. Thieves were breaking into a bank of mailboxes with a screwdriver even while I was on the phone with her. With a problem this widespread, enforcing the law seemed next to impossible.

The worst part was that these thieves shouldn't have been hard to catch. They'd used the Discover card account number from the convenience checks to have a pizza delivered. Domino's would only release the address where it was delivered to law enforcement, who evidently couldn't be bothered. I thought when the Discover card fraud department got involved, something would happen. But the bank where the convenience check was deposited wouldn't release information on the account holder, even to police, though we had the name to whom the check was written. They had no reason to believe their customer had done anything wrong, and perhaps she hadn't. But she could have told police where she got the check.

And if you think that retailers take precautions that make stolen checks hard to pass, you'd be wrong. A cashier even took one check where the thief evidently signed her own name instead of mine. On others, driver's license numbers or social security numbers were randomly written down, never the same numbers. No one had actually looked at an ID. The fraud department for the grocery store where many checks were written promised to look at in-store cameras, as they'd taken the hit for over 30 checks, but I never heard back from them.

There are things you can do to protect yourself. First, never have your driver's license or social security number printed on your check. Second, watch your account activity closely. I might have overlooked the checks being written on my account until it was overdrawn or I received a statement, making my financial recovery much harder. Now that almost every bank offers online checking, it's easier to monitor activity daily.

If you do have to report lost or stolen checks, you will need to sign and have notarized an affidavit detailing the stolen check numbers. Make plenty of copies. Your bank should be able to provide you with a form. As if being a victim weren't enough, any business that accepts a bad check will try to collect the amount plus fees. You will need to mail an affidavit in response to each request to cover a returned check.

The good news is that banks and credit card companies are making it easier to avoid theft, but it's impossible to eliminate this kind of fraud completely. Check cards reduce the need for paper checks, but there are still times you need to pull out your checkbook. Credit card companies no longer print account numbers on convenience checks, but that can still be taken from an account statement. If you're organized enough, consider switching to paperless statements.

Most importantly, pay attention. Charges you don't recognize, mail you're expecting and don't receive, anything that suggests someone has access to your account information should be immediately reported to the bank. Fraudulent charges can be restored to your account, but by responding quickly, you can minimize the impact on your time and pocketbook.