GREENSBORO, N.C. — How does your check to Duke Energy for $67 suddenly change to a check written for $6,700 to someone you don't know? It's called check washing and police in our area see a lot of it.
"Old school stealing from mailboxes, washing a check, trying to get money," said Mark Barker, Winston-Salem Police Financial Fraud Detective.
Check washing works just like what it sounds like. Checks are put into a solution and your writing comes off and allows a thief to write in another amount.
How can you stop this from happening?
"Don't throw the flag up on your mailbox, that you have a check waiting for the mail carrier. It's a sign," said Barker.
Barker says don't leave a check in the outside mailboxes at the post office either, you need to walk it in. Use a gel pen when you write a check, these gel pens have ink that is harder to wash off. Instead of ordering the cheapest checks, choose checks that have security features that make the paper harder to tamper with.
When the bank sees check-washing fraud, your money is likely to be refunded. But the newer scams use you against yourself. and often that means your money is gone for good.
" If you had a hand in taking the cash out or using Zelle or Venmo, they may not reimburse and that's the really hard part of my job. Up front I have to tell you that you may never see this money again," said Barker.
You may think you're talking to the bank, your credit card, or a company you do business with, but really, it's a scammer.
If they convince you to withdraw money from your bank account, send money using a payment app or you give them an authentication code, you've authorized the transaction, and the bank doesn't see it as fraud.