first time.. hopefully last

[ceagle]

In all my years, I've never been subjected to a check being stolen... but it finally happened. Same thing that happened to another friend a few months ago... someone intercepts a letter you send to pay a bill, then tries to forge it ;/

I'm now suspecting that there might be a crime ring around here doing it...

*sighs*

So luckily the bank where it was deposited caught it and let me know, but it will still be 7 to 10 days before the money gets refunded to my bank... plus.. I had to close my old account and make a new one, so that took a while... and in a strange unfortunate coincidence, I had just reordered checks, so I couldn't even use a single one of them.. loss of about $75 (I ordered a lot)... *sighs again* ... and in Economics if you include the OpportunityCost as well, that's probably another $50 or so... an overall loss of over a hundred smackers.. rarrrrrr... about a full day's pay lost just due to someone trying hard NOT to make an honest living ;/

I'll be mailing my checks directly from Inside the post office from now on... no more blue drop boxes...

Comments

[allaboutweather.livejournal.com]

So sorry that happened to you. :(

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

'preciate your good thoughts, bud... *hug*

[allaboutweather.livejournal.com]

Hopefully you'll be able to resolve the problem. :)

[makovette.livejournal.com]

What's a "check"? ;-)

Man that suck, sorry to hear this crap is going on. We had someone stealing mail on our street recently. Didn't get anything form us at least. Got a locking mailbox now to make that BS harder...

Mako

[whitetail.livejournal.com]

I wrote a total of 9 checks all last year. I look forward to the day I won't have to write any.

[makovette.livejournal.com]

Yeps, less than 1 a month here as well.

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

*nodnods* ... first time in over 38 years... not too bad though....
I also have enjoyed some nice designs on checks over the years too.. I sorta get a smile when I can write a check with a pleasant image printed in the background... I've had Disneyland ones, animal ones, cartoon ones... in fact I went without a nice design for about a decade and decided to give it a try again with this batch... such a freaky coincidence,..... In fact, I initially thought it mighta been someone at the check ordering company, but when I saw the forged check it clearly had nothing to do with them.

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

egads... sorry to hear you've been targeted with some nasty exploits too... :/

We should have Wile E Coyote build a big capture net on the porch...

[mondhasen.livejournal.com]

Sorry that happened. You seem to get your mail intercepted a lot (thinking of your credit card problem)

I don't believe I've ever had a check stolen, but it would be easy enough the way they mail them out to me: a plastic bag with a collapsed box, always the same color and appearance. And that's from the bank.

When mailing checks I'm worried because it's obviously a payment envelope.

So then we have online which most but not all companies use. Maybe I should set up a card e exclusively for payment and only feed it at bill time. What a pain.

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

Indeed... I've considered not using the billing mailer-envelope and just using a plain one.... I might try that too, but for now I think I'm just going to try to keep the drops -inside- the the post office and rule out the entire scope of external blue drop-box locations and see if that narrows things down better...

(oh! p.s. .... not really sure what happened with the credit card one... that happened to about 5 people at work, just with work credit cards.. so I think that may have been a database theft somewhere)

[radjin.livejournal.com]

If I write a check it is to hand directly to the payee; a total of three last year. All my bill paying has been done on line since the 90's and dial-up internet; never a lost payment and any payee that forgets to post gets a call from the bank on my behalf.

I did have the odd experience of someone paying for food at a restaurant I frequent, on a day I am never there with a card I have never used by punching in the number because the card was in my wallet.

But I know how you feel, it's annoying and they should spay or neuter such people before they pass on their evil genes.

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

That sounds like a pretty solid plan ^v^ .. I do pay a few bills online, but most I still pay via cheque. In fact I sorta had to start paying our electric one online since the electric company lost our payment to them twice in a row! Or sometimes I will go to a payment center if not online...

That's pretty cool to hear the bank actually calls lazy payees! I wonder if that's the policy with all banks...

In that restaurant, are you saying someone there may have kept your card on file and tried to skim ya? rarrrgthblecch.... ;P

[radjin.livejournal.com]

I never used that card at that restaurant. It was a company card I had never used as I had received it only a month before. How they got the number is beyond me unless they scanned it as it has contactless payment built in.

[porsupah.livejournal.com]

Would it be practical to pay those people/companies electronically? Considerably safer, not to mention blissfully convenient - you can then settle up whilst lain snugly in bed, or luxuriating in the bath. ^_^

I wonder if it'd be worth reporting this to some state or federal law agency? Not for them to act on per se, but if there is indeed an organization behind it, it may spread quite widely, and the more data points they have, the better chance they'll have of nailing the culprits.

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

Indeedy..*ear fuzzles* ... I do pay a few online ^V^ ... I haven't paid one from the bathtub yet, but it's quite tempting now that you mention it..... ;9

The bank said it will conduct a full investigation and let me know if they need any further assistance from me. The recipient bank did say that the forger tried 3 other deposits from other people's stolen checks that same day...

[xolo.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to think of the last time I wrote (or received) a physical cheque. It's been awhile. If it's a recurring monthly payment, you can usually make arrangements with your bank to let your creditor bill them, and they pay it directly. You never have to mess with it, or buy cheques, or pay postage.

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

Yep... I sorta do despise having to pay half a dollar these days to mail stuff... ;P ... I think 30c was more fair... plus the cost of an envelope if they don't include one...
So you don't receive or write physical cheques? Wow.... a Star Trek world! ;D