Moorestown police warn of thieves fishing for your checks in curbside mailboxes

Moorestown, N.J. (WTXF) - Moorestown police are warning of thieves fishing for your checks in curbside mailboxes.

It's easy to pull up to a mailbox and drop in an envelope but now police are urging you to use post office mail slots or hand them to your mailman instead. It could save you a headache and money.

A mail carrier emptying out a mailbox is what's you'd expect to see but Moorestown police say there's someone else "fishing" through them trying to steal your money. Police say they're investigating several cases involving thefts from U.S. Postal Service mailboxes including on Chester Avenue between Main Street and Second Street.

FOX 29 told Kevin Phillips about the scheme as he dropped off a package at the post office just a block away from the curbside mailboxes.

"It's pretty crazy. I mean I drop off mail here every day so yeah to hear that is kind of weird," said Phillips.

Moorestown police posted the warning on its Facebook page saying thieves are stealing then altering checks you put in the mailbox and cashing them.

"These days nothing surprises me. I mean everybody is trying to get over. In hard times people get desperate," said Montu Tekhna mailing a package at the post office nearby.

Moorestown police also say it's a widespread crime happening everywhere not just in this township. In fact, in July we reported the same thing happening in Tredyffrin Township where investigators said thieves were dropping sticky fly paper into mail boxes to fish out envelopes hoping to find cash, gift cards, checks and credit cards numbers. The U.S. Postal Inspector told us then they were working very closely with state and local law enforcement on incidents around the region.

"I've always paid my bills online," said Amanda Plant. She says she did mostly because of convenience but after hearing about this, "Definitely I would consider it to be a safety issue too," she said.

Police say if you mail checks keep an eye on your bank account to make sure they reached the right destination and weren't tampered with.

Please contact the Moorestown police to report stolen checks or identity theft by calling 856-234-8300. Use the following link to report stolen mail to the Postal Service: https://emailus.usps.com/emailUs/iq/usps/request.do?forward=emailUs