Bergen County Mailbox Thefts Lead to $23,500 in Check Fraud

Thieves struck Bergen County post office boxes, making off with checks worth $23,500. The most recent hit took place at Glen Rock Post Office's collection box on Aug. 3rd.

A local dropped two checks in the mail, but criminals snatched them both. While they cashed one check after changing it, bank staff caught and blocked the second attempt, said Glen Rock Police Chief Dean Ackerman.

"This is one in a series of incidents where residents and local businesses have reported that their checks have been stolen from the mail and resulted in fraudulent activity," Ackerman said, per Patch.

Federal postal inspectors started looking into these mail thefts. The criminals seem to pick outdoor collection boxes at post offices across Bergen County as their targets.

In the first months of the year, two people lost $23,523.74 when their checks vanished from the same Glen Rock spot. The crooks changed the checks and cashed them within weeks of each other.

One check went missing on Jan. 20, the next on Feb. 16. The thieves struck fast, altering and cashing both payments before anyone noticed.

Reports of such crimes keep popping up in towns all over Bergen County. These skilled thieves fish out mail from official boxes, hunting specifically for checks they can change and cash.

Bank fraud experts now work on the August case. So far, no arrests have been made in this string of thefts.

If you think someone stole your mail, contact both your local police and the post office right away. Skip the outdoor boxes: instead, walk inside to mail items or hand them straight to postal workers.