Did you know that one way identity thieves may attempt to steal money from you includes stealing personal checks out of the mail, altering them, and fraudulently depositing them? To lessen the chances of this happening to you, we recommend the following alternative ways to make payments safely:
- Make the payment online directly to the vendor
- Some services may charge a credit / debit card convenience fee but may accept electronic checks or forms of electronic transfer without charging the fee.
- These convenience fees are going to be far more affordable in the long run that losing money from a stolen and fraudulently cashed check.
- Use your bank’s bill pay service.
- Use an electronic service (Zelle and Venmo are two common ones) to send money to someone you personally know (e.g. a relative or friend). Do not use these services to send money to anyone you have not met in person, in case they are intent on defrauding you.
We understand that many in our community prefer to pay via personal check. While the payment methods above involve far less risk than sending a personal check in the mail, if you are resolute about continuing to send checks, the safest way to do that is to deposit your mail inside a post office into an interior collection box (the slot in the wall inside the building).
Do not leave outgoing mail with checks in unsecured locations, like your home mailbox with the flag up. And while using a United States Postal Service exterior collection box (the standard blue standalone “mailbox”) is safer than leaving outgoing mail inside your mailbox at home, it involves more risk than depositing mail
inside the post office. The theft of postal keys that provide access to these exterior collection boxes is a burgeoning problem regionally (and even recently occurred here in Palo Alto;
read this news release for more information).
Also, if a vendor sends an e-mail request to you to make any type of change to your payment method or destination account,
even if it is part of an existing e-mail thread, ensure the requested change is legitimate by using the phone to contact someone at the vendor prior to sending the payment. Scams involving compromised business e-mail accounts exist, so that e-mail request for a change could be fraudulent.
For more crime prevention tips, including personal safety, home and vehicle safety, child safety, and other scams & schemes, visit
www.cityofpaloalto.org/StopCrime.
