ALPHARETTA, Ga. — People who put checks in the mail in North Fulton County found them cashed for thousands of dollars more than they were originally written.
If you’ve been by the Webb Bridge Post Office in Alpharetta recently, you may have noticed the outside collection boxes are now taped off, prohibiting anyone from using them.
That’s because postal inspectors are investigating reports of mail being stolen from these boxes.
“My husband dropped off a letter at the Webb Bridge Post Office on June 15. He put it in the outside box,” Penny Love said.
She told Channel 2′s Christian Jennings that the check was made out to the company that does their lawn service.
“July 5, my husband noticed that a payment came through the bank, but it was made out to American Express with the same check number,” Love said. “The amount had been changed from $200 to $2,000.”
The check had been washed. Love said she immediately called her bank and froze the account.
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Now she’s hoping the post office gets to the bottom of how someone was able to steal her check.
According to a post on the Nextdoor app, there are others who also had their mail stolen and accounts compromised recently.
Many had dropped off checks at a blue mail collection box outside the Webb Bridge Post Office.
“Short of times when the box is full and people are putting it in that box, that mail is going to be going deep down into a box. Unless you got a key to get into that box, how are (you) stealing mail out of it?” Love said.
Alpharetta police confirmed they’ve received calls regarding check fraud and that some of the victims reported last having those checks in their hands when they dropped them off at the post office.
A spokesperson for the postal inspector also sent a statement to Jennings saying they are investigating reports of mail theft.
If you suspect that your mail is stolen, the post office says to notify your local police and place your mail on hold if needed.
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