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How to Avoid Check Theft

Do you send checks through the mail? Learn ways that thieves are targeting the mail and tips to protect your payments from theft.

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Updated:

January 28, 2025

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Are you the type of grandparent who enjoys mailing birthday cards with checks inside to your grandchildren? Do you choose to receive your yearly tax refund check in the mail? Does your farm pay for crop inputs by check? If any of these describe you, be aware that sending and receiving checks through the mail may not be as safe as you think. Those checks could easily fall into the wrong hands.

The Facts

With more options for online money movement, paper checks are a less common form of payment than in years past. That said, they are still the most common form of payment for U.S. farmers. According to Bushel Farm (2024), 70% of grain settlements and 65% of grain inputs are still paid using paper checks. More likely than not, until those numbers decrease, the business of paper check theft and fraud will continue to rise.

During the pandemic, unemployment and government relief checks were mailed to many individuals and businesses—including to farmers through Pandemic Assistance initiatives managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). While these efforts helped countless Americans make ends meet, they also gave thieves an easy and lucrative way to commit fraud. The U.S. Department of Treasury (2024) reports that check fraud has increased nationwide by 385% since the pandemic.

How It Works

The most common way thieves commit check fraud is by stealing physical checks. They steal mail from U.S. Postal Service (USPS) trucks, mail carriers, home mailboxes, and blue USPS collection boxes. Once a thief has a check, they can use common household chemicals to "wash" the check by removing information such as the recipient's name and the payment amount. Thieves can then alter the checks however they desire.

Check fraud may also occur when thieves sell these stolen checks to organized criminals or use stolen checks to create additional counterfeit checks. Because personal information—such as a home address, a phone number, and a bank routing number—is printed on most checks, thieves will often exploit the information they find on checks in other ways, as well.

How to Protect Yourself

The American Bankers Association (2024) says there are several ways to protect yourself against check theft:

Use online payment systems. The best protection against check theft is to stop sending and receiving checks. Online payments have security features, such as encryption, that physical checks do not. Other advantages of online payments include convenience, speed, reliability, and a light environmental footprint.

Farmers have been able to make direct loan payments since early 2024, using the Pay My Loan self-service tool.

Mail a check directly from the post office or make a direct loan payment in person at a USDA service center. The risk of mail theft increases when using home mailboxes or blue USPS collection mailboxes.
When writing a check, use a black gel pen. It's harder for a criminal to use chemicals to alter a check written with a gel pen.
Retrieve mail from a home mailbox as quickly as possible to decrease the possibility that someone will steal it from your mailbox.
If traveling, request that the USPS hold your mail until you return or ask a neighbor to retrieve it daily.
Use security envelopes so thieves cannot see what is inside.
Monitor personal accounts for any action that you did not initiate.
Consider signing up for Informed Delivery® through the USPS. This free service tracks packages and shares a photo of incoming mail.
Confirm that the checks you send have been received by the recipient, and communicate with the sender if a check you expect to receive is overdue.

What If You Suspect Theft?

Even if you have taken the above precautions, there is still a small chance that you will be the victim of check theft. So, what can you do if you suspect theft? The sooner you respond, the better.

Call your bank's fraud department to report the stolen check and stop payment if it has not been cashed.
Contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service or your local authorities.
Request a free credit report from the three major credit bureaus. Look at the report for any suspicious credit opened in your name.
- You can also issue a fraud alert and freeze your credit through the three credit bureaus without it negatively affecting your credit score.

Identity theft can happen to anyone, whether you are involved in agriculture or not. So, take steps to safeguard your identity. You can register for Penn State Extension's free Your Money Matters: Identity Theft webinar by typing the title ("Your Money Matters") in the search bar at the top of the page. Then, follow the directions to sign up.