An arm of the U.S. Treasury late last month issued an alert to financial institutions about a nationwide surge in mail-theft related check fraud schemes targeting carriers such as the U.S. Postal Service.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network on Feb. 27 issued a bulletin warning that cases of check theft, washing and fraud had been growing across the country.
“Despite the declining use of checks in the United States, criminals have been increasingly targeting the U.S. Mail since the COVID-19 pandemic to commit check fraud,” according to the bulletin.