Thieves Steal Thousands After ‘Washing’ Texas Man’s Checks

(KNUE-FM) One Texas man is now standing up to warn others after thieves recently ‘washed’ checks he put in the mail, and ended up draining his bank account. It’s one of the worst feelings — having thieves steal what you’ve worked so hard for, but now he just wants to make sure there are no other victims moving forward.

What Is Check Washing?

According to KHOU, the victim in this case even placed the checks in the mailbox himself, so he thought there was no way a thief could steal from him or his account but he was wrong.

The man is Eric Hanson and he said it started with two small payments (less than $200 combined) ended up being more than $7,000 in fraudulent withdrawals from his personal bank account.

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How the Theft Happened

Just like most of us, Hanson had heard of mail thefts taking place, even in his own neighborhood, which is why he decided to take his checks directly to the post office just a few miles from home.

It was just a few days later when Hanson checked his bank account and saw that everything was gone and he even had a $3,000 overdraft on his account. When he investigated further he found that one of the checks in the mail had been altered. One of the checks was rewritten for $4,600 and the other one for $2,500.

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Police and Postal Inspectors Respond

Both checks had been cashed at that point. Hanson immediately reported the crime to Sugar Land police, who are currently investigating the case, as well as the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

For now, Sugar Land police are reminding citizens to not send any cash or checks through the mail. Hanson’s bank is also investigating the transactions.

Let this be a reminder to every Texan to not send money of any kind through the mail.