KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – A Knoxville man is facing felony charges after police say they found hundreds of pieces of mail containing checks. A report says he told officers he works at the United States Postal Service.
Officers say they pulled over a car where Dontray Ligon was a passenger. After searching the car, police said they found a lunchbox filled with hundreds of pieces of mail that appeared to be checks.
Property crimes detectives say they contacted one of the victims, who told police he never received a check he expected for more than $13,000.
According to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, the stolen checks total to an amount of $972,051.63.
Experts say that as we head into the holiday season, when more mail is being sent, there is generally an uptick in mail being stolen.
“Unfortunately, we’ve also seen checks stolen from the postal boxes sitting outside the U.S. Postal Service,” said Stacey Payne, the executive director of Crime Stoppers.
When it’s time to pay a monthly bill, Payne and other experts say you should avoid writing a physical check if possible. It could protect your money from fraud.
Rob Stivers, a market executive with Regions Bank, says paying online is the safest option. He says most reputable companies have secure electronic payment systems. It reduces the risk of your money getting stolen on the way to the right recipient.
“You’re just trying to avoid a physical check as much as possible,” Stivers said. “We find when we automate the process, there’s less likelihood of fraud.”
“In today’s environment, things that are getting mailed are typically payments,” Stivers said. “They know that if they just capture it, they can wash the check. They’ve got the check number. They can put them out of sequence. They have lots of different ways that they can take advantage of that information.”
If you absolutely must write a check, Payne says to go into the USPS and hand the mail directly to a worker and avoid the drop boxes outside. She says to also write on the check with a gel ink pen.
“It will actually go into the fibers of the check and make it next to impossible to wash,” Payne said.
Knoxville’s CAC Office on Aging has a program helping older adults who have been victims of crime, including fraud, scams and financial exploitation. The program helps individuals recover. You can find more information here.
If you suspect mail theft by a U.S. Postal Service Employee, you can report it to the office here.
