Written by Craig Johnson | April 23rd, 2025
“You need to know that there’s a real threat to your identity if you mail payments by check.”
Do you still mail checks? If so, you should know that crooks are trying to take you for all you have. Although money expert Clark Howard wants you to receive paper statements for particular bills, he doesn’t want you to mail checks to pay for them. The reason is because of a scam called “check washing.”
The U.S. Postal Service has a warning on its website about mail theft and how thieves are targeting mailboxes. “And one of the principal things they’re looking for – and this is something a lot of people will do at Christmastime – is they’re looking for checks,” Clark says. “Maybe you’re sending a check to a loved one at Christmas, or maybe you’re paying a bill and you’re enclosing a paper check.” According to one report, Americans suffered an estimated $21 billion in losses to check fraud in 2023. More recently, the Charlotte News & Observer newspaper reported that criminals are intercepting people’s property tax
checks. In both of those cases and countless others, the crime involved “washing” checks.
“Washing” a check involves “changing the payee names and often the dollar amounts on checks and fraudulently depositing them,” according to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. “Occasionally, these checks are stolen from mailboxes
and washed in chemicals to remove the ink. Some scammers will even use copiers or scanners to print fake copies of a check.” Clark says criminals are breaking into post boxes and, in some cases, even robbing postal workers so that they can get the keys to the boxes. Once they have the keys, “They can get the mail out of the box, open up mail that looks like it’s a payment with a check,” Clark says. “Then they ‘wash’ that check, make themselves the payee, change the amount and steal money from you.”
Check-Washing: How To Avoid This Check Mailing Scam
Because of the prevalence of check washing and other check fraud, Clark wants you to be safe when paying your bills. Don’t Put a Check in the Post Office’s Blue Mailboxes “The Postal Service, in its own alert about this, says if you are mailing something with a check — a bill payment or anything like that — don’t use the outside mailboxes,” Clark says. “Go inside the post office and drop it in their secure box.”
Use the Right Pen
Instead of using ballpoint pens, many people advocate for the use of gel ink pens, which contain ink that thoroughly penetrates the paper, making it impossible to “wash” a check. While it won’t hurt to use gel ink pens, which can be found on Amazon for about $5 for a pack, a report from TV station KSDK in St. Louis indicates that gel ink pens, once viewed as an adequate countermeasure to prevent “washing” a check, no longer are a deterrent for the most sophisticated crooks. “No, gel pens can no longer make check fraud harder for criminals because criminals no longer need to erase ink to commit check fraud,” the station reports in an article. Although many crooks are now scanning and reproducing checks, which they can easily modify, rather than writing over
them, it stands to reason that some bad actors may still be choosing to “wash” a check the old-fashioned way, and so using a gel ink pen still has its benefits.
Use Secure Checks
Another option is to use certified checks, also known as “official checks,” which are typically used for big purchases and offer more security features.
With a certified check, the financial institution guarantees the funds and makes sure that only that amount can be cashed. Not all banks or credit unions have certified checks, so you’ll need to check with your financial institution to make sure. A certified check will typically cost a little more than a regular check.
Pay Electronically if You Can
“Pay your bills electronically, above all,” Clark says. “That’s the ultimate lesson of this because the check-writing system is not secure and not safe.”