Elder Abuse Resources

I don't write many checks anymore as I do most of my bill paying online. However, there are many folks and businesses still paying bills by sending checks through the United States Postal Service. Nearly 150 billion pieces of mail went out in 2017 in the United States. Even as cybersecurity is a major issue for the financial industry, low tech crime continues to wreak havoc with people's financial affairs and identity information, this in turn impacts banks and credit unions.

According to law enforcement officials, "mailbox fishing" is on the rise across the country. Yes, thieves are "fishing" for mail by using sticky rodent traps attached to a pole with a long string to pull mail out of the blue drop off mailboxes. As many as 20 envelopes at a time can be pulled up by doing this and might contain rent checks, gift cards, tax refund checks or money orders. The checks can then be "washed" of ink with chemicals and the thieves have a blank check to do whatever they want. Even if the envelopes don't hold checks, they may contain documents with home addresses and Social Security data whereby an individual's profile can be developed for the purposes of identity theft. Mailboxes have been targeted in New York, Texas, Florida, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Colorado and California.

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Written by Shari R. Pogach, Regulatory Paralegal, NAFCU

First Community is here to help raise awareness and prevent the exploitation of our most vulnerable citizens. If you have any questions, please contact us here or email us at info@fccu.org