Check in mail "stolen" and cashed

[nwsteve]

Does anyone know the procedure when you have a check sent in mail that goes to wrong address and it gets cashed by that recipient?
We had a "small" check of $25 mailed to us that got delivered to the wrong address apparently but was cashed by someone else.
We live in a college town and unfortunately have two streets on the same carrier route with identical house numbers. Speculating here because it has happened before but recipients noticed it was not theirs and put in our mailbox.
That did not happen this time and in fact was deposited by mobile deposit into someone else's account. Dark side of mobile banking--endorsing signature clearly does not match payee--also conveniently illegible.
Not sure how much effort is involved to get recovery but hope someone on the board has some background on this.
Thanks
Nwsteve

 

[brett]

Call the person who issued the check. They will have their bank follow it up.

And ask them for a replacement check.

Since you did not get the check, did not cash it, it is not your issue.

 

[euro]

Contact the folks at the other address and see if it was a simple mistake.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Not sure I have any advice other than to take it up with the sender or their bank. Was it sent by a private individual or some other entity? How did you get the information about mobile banking and the endorsement signature?

You might consider signing up for the post office's informed delivery service. You'll get a daily email with images of all the mail sent to you that day, except oversized mail. See https://informeddelivery.usps.com/box/pages/intro/start.action

 

[youbet]

was deposited by mobile deposit into someone else's account. Dark side of mobile banking--endorsing signature clearly does not match payee--also conveniently illegible.

You're leaving out an important part of the story. How do you know who cashed the check, that the endorsing signature doesn't match payee and is illegible and that the check was deposited into someone else's account?

Apparently you've already been in contact with the issuer or you wouldn't even know that the check was issued since it wasn't delivered to you and you'd have zero knowledge of what the illicit recipient did with it.

In that case, what did the issuer say regarding how it would be handled>?

 

[nwsteve]

You're leaving out an important part of the story. How do you know who cashed the check, that the endorsing signature doesn't match payee and is illegible and that the check was deposited into someone else's account?

Apparently you've already been in contact with the issuer or you wouldn't even know that the check was issued since it wasn't delivered to you and you'd have zero knowledge of what the illicit recipient did with it.

In that case, what did the issuer say regarding how it would be handled>?

Yes am in contact with the issuer and was provided a copy of the endorsement side of the check. Up thread post re it is issuer's bank that has to solve was most helpful.

 

[38Chevy454]

I agree, notify the sender bank and ask to reissue since you never received it. Recovery of the original is their problem. Obvious it was deposited to account that is not yours, so not your loss.

 

[youbet]

Yes am in contact with the issuer and was provided a copy of the endorsement side of the check. Up thread post re it is issuer's bank that has to solve was most helpful.

I'll ask again........ When you contacted the payer (the folks that owe you the 25 bux and haven't paid you yet), what did they say they were going to do about it? It's their job to get you paid. They owe you the money, need to pay you, and the fact that their first attempt went astray is not your problem.

It should be fairly automatic that the payer will direct their bank to issue a replacement check. Their bank will attempt to try to collect from the bank that cashed the first check with the fraudulent endorsement. The bank that cashed the check might try to go after the endorser. And on and on. Because it's only $25, no one is going to spend a lot of effort on this so hopefully they just issue you another check and write it off.

Just curious, was the check from a business or private party? If a business, small, big or mega? Do they have any reason to value your goodwill and therefore want to satisfy the situation and pay you? In any case, don't let the payer tell you that your issue is with their bank. It isn't. The payer has not paid you and you'd like your money please.

BTW, what motivated you to contact the payer? Just the fact you were waiting for a "check in the mail" that never arrived?

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

My friends tax refund check was pinched from his mailbox...drumroll, the long time postman stole it. He got arrested.

 

[youbet]

I agree, notify the sender bank and ask to reissue since you never received it. Recovery of the original is their problem. Obvious it was deposited to account that is not yours, so not your loss.

I'd focus more on staying on the payer's case about this. They owe NWSTEVE $25 and have not paid him. They'll have more clout with their bank if they're a significant customer.

 

[nwsteve]

I'll ask again........ When you contacted the payer (the folks that owe you the 25 bux and haven't paid you yet), what did they say they were going to do about it? It's their job to get you paid. They owe you the money, need to pay you, and the fact that their first attempt went astray is not your problem.

It should be fairly automatic that the payer will direct their bank to issue a replacement check. Their bank will attempt to try to collect from the bank that cashed the first check with the fraudulent endorsement. The bank that cashed the check might try to go after the endorser. And on and on. Because it's only $25, no one is going to spend a lot of effort on this.

Just curious, was the check from a business or private party? If a business, small, big or mega? Do they have any reason to value your goodwill and therefore want to satisfy the situation?
BTW, what motivated you to contact the payer? Just the fact you were waiting for a "check in the mail" that never arrived?

Sorry, missed that piece. The check writer is a longtime former work colleague. Check was to cover a residual from some work done in May. She was just as surprised as me since she sent check in July.
Amount was not large and I just realized I had not seen it so wanted to be sure if it we overlooked or what? We had busy Summer with new grandson, trip to China, etc. ;-) so policing our mail for this amount was not top of mind.
I have asked her to contact her bank and include the missing funds with our next residual check

 

[MichaelB]

I'd focus more on staying on the payer's case about this. They owe NWSTEVE $25 and have not paid him. They'll have more clout with their bank if they're a significant customer.

Yes, this. The loss is to the party that issued the check, they need to submit an affidavit to their bank for recovery. It is up to the bank to pursue.

 

[Walt34]

The payer's bank may ask you (nwsteve) to complete an "affidavit of forged endorsement" for the endorsement on the issued check. They (probably) cannot kick it back to the bank that honored the check without that document although for a $25 check the receiving bank may not bother with that requirement.

When the bank that honored the check receives the affidavit, it will reimburse the account of the person who issued the check, and she then issues a new check payable to you. Hopefully sent certified mail this time. The bank that honored the check then goes after the person who presented the check for payment. That person could be charged with the felony of uttering a forged document, although for a $25 check that is unlikely.

At least that's the way it used to work when I retired from the Fraud Section 15 years ago.

 

[nwsteve]

Great help--thanks to all. Got processes to recover underway. Of course, have to wait for banks to open tomorrow.

 

[ivinsfan]

I can't figure this out..why would someone commit bank fraud for 25 bucks..you know their bank is going to be really ticked and fee the crap out of them,maybe even close their account.

 

[Walt34]

I can't figure this out..why would someone commit bank fraud for 25 bucks..you know their bank is going to be really ticked and fee the crap out of them,maybe even close their account.

Sometimes it is drug-driven, those folks are not thinking clearly. But in this case I'm thinking it was just some idiot thinking a check showing up in the mail was just "Manna from heaven" and went ahead and cashed it. As you know, some people simply cannot foresee past the next couple of days.

Stuff like this is part of why when you go to open a bank account they want a criminal and credit history check on your grandmother.

I saw a couple of cases where a bank teller made a mistake on a deposit account number (usually transposed digits, when they were handwritten) and some fool thought the bank was giving away free money when it showed up in their account so they spent it. Imagine the shock and dismay when they found out they'd have to actually pay for that new Caddy!

 

[Bamaman]

My friends tax refund check was pinched from his mailbox...drumroll, the long time postman stole it. He got arrested.

That's why you cannot just endorse a check for cash. It also requires an account number that shows what account the funds went into for chargeback purposes. The bank also has transaction numbers stamped so they can follow the funds backwards.

The first working day or two of every calendar year, the USPO delivers the last years' tax return forms in mail boxes. It's a great time for individuals with fraudulent intentions to get hold of you and your wife's social security numbers? It's just not very hard to get enough info to take out loans in other persons' names with the info on the internet.