Believe It Or Not, There's Still People That Write Checks In Texas And If You Know Someone Who Does, They Need To Be Alert.

Cash is always the best gift to give during the holidays. We're quite sure at this point, you've figured out that there's "cashless" ways to send money through your phone but for the rest of you folks who prefer the "old fashioned" way of sending money to loved ones via paper check, you may want to reconsider doing that this year.

Arrests for Robbery of Letter Carriers Are Up 73% Year Over Year According To The U.S. Postal Service.

The USPS earlier this year that robberies of letter carriers have decreased by 19% and complaints received for mail theft are down 34%. While that may sound like good news, the postal service is still warning about scammers.

Fraudsters are targeting mailboxes, either stealing letters directly from residents' homes or from the blue USPS collection boxes, the postal service said.

There's Been Reports Of These Thefts In Texas As Well.

The holidays are usually a time where robberies of postal carriers and mailboxes increase and with that the likelihood that mailed checks could be stolen is a risk worth considering.

In many cases, "check washing" - which involves scammers using chemicals that erase your writing on the check, such as the name of the recipient and the amount of the check, to change the amount- is why their being stolen.

You might be asking "Who Is Still Sending Checks In 2024?"

While check usage has been declining, Americans still wrote 3.1 billion checks in 2023 which still gives criminals plenty of opportunity for fraud.

If you insist (or just don't trust "CashApp" or "ApplePay" or whatever) on sending a check through the mail, go inside your local post office or send it through the mail at your workplace. You can also hand your mail directly to a mail carrier.