1 month ago
15
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- When it's clip to wage a bill, galore radical inactive constitute a cheque and message it. But is that harmless anymore? Postal inspectors accidental message theft is rising accelerated -- and thieves are going aft your checks.
The operation "the cheque is successful the mail" has caller meaning for 2 bluish California homeowners who were among the latest to wage the terms of message theft. They dropped their spot taxation payments successful the message arsenic usual. And the checks were cashed close distant -- but not by the taxation collector.
Kathy Pham of San Jose was amazed to get a delinquency announcement successful the message saying she ne'er paid her spot taxes.
She thought, definite she did.
"I thought, 'Oh my gosh. Did I forget?' I was similar kicking myself," Pham said. "My hubby really took the cheque down to the station bureau and dropped it off."
In fact, her slope connection showed that the cheque had cleared months ago.
"I said I'm going to spell to the region Monday, and I'm going to archer them, 'Hey, you cashed my check.' And past my hubby said, 'Hey, let's look astatine the check.' And that's erstwhile I astir fell over," she said.
The cheque representation showed a precise antithetic cheque than the 1 Pham wrote.
Criminals had stolen it from the mail, past utilized a pen to compression letters betwixt the ones Pham wrote to signifier a caller name.
"They conscionable -- they benignant of acceptable their sanction into those letters," Pham said.
That idiosyncratic cashed her check, making disconnected with her $2,400.
"Not lone did I person to wage the spot taxation again, I paid, like, each that precocious fees," she said.
Pham went close down to Wells Fargo Bank. Surely her slope would refund her money.
"They denied it due to the fact that I waited excessively long," she said.
The aforesaid happening happened to Jody Glaser of Los Altos and her husband, Paul.
They dropped their spot taxation outgo into a bluish mailbox extracurricular the station office. Three months later, they got a precocious announcement from the county.
"I was successful the different room, and I heard him accidental 'Baaaah,'" said Jody Glaser.
"I'm like, I cognize I paid it. I cognize I saw that the cheque deed the account," said Paul Glaser.
So they clicked connected the cheque image, lone to spot a large shock.
"Clearly, the cheque had been altered, and cashed by idiosyncratic else," Paul said.
"The criminals astir apt cognize there's a chemic that volition hitch distant the ink," Jody said.
To their surprise, the cheque representation showed idiosyncratic had wiped disconnected the sanction of the taxation collector and enactment successful a antithetic name.
"And it was a woman's name, evidently not the taxation board," Jody said.
The thief took astir $28,000.
And the mates inactive had to wage their spot taxes -- positive penalties. Another $30,000.
"And truthful present we're out, you know, $60,000," Jody said.
They went to their slope -- besides Wells Fargo -- expecting a refund.
"We, wrong 30 days, got an automated denial," she said. "They said you person to notify america wrong 30 days of the statement."
"Same thing," said Kathy Pham. "'Your assertion was denied due to the fact that you waited excessively long' I went successful arsenic soon arsenic I recovered out, truthful however tin you accidental I waited excessively long?"
Wells Fargo pointed to its 42-page deposit relationship agreement, which says customers indispensable reappraisal slope statements each period and study unauthorized payments wrong 30 days -- oregon suffer rights to a claim.
But the homeowners accidental they did reappraisal their statements, and they didn't amusement immoderate fraud.
"The connection lone shows the day and the amount," Jody said. "It doesn't amusement who you wrote the cheque to. It doesn't accidental who cashed the check."
It conscionable says "check."
As a result, they had nary thought it was scammers who cashed their checks until the region sent delinquency notices 3 months later.
"The lone mode we would cognize is if we had downloaded the existent check. Who does that? I mean, you would person to bash that for each azygous check," Jody said.
But Wells Fargo says that's precisely what customers should do. The slope updated its relationship statement past November to accidental customers indispensable besides reappraisal cheque images to sphere rights to a claim. That explicit clause was not successful the statement erstwhile the Glasers and Kathy Pham filed their claims. But Wells Fargo said cheque images were ever disposable to them.
In a statement, Wells Fargo said:
"We empathize with our customer's situation. We ne'er privation to spot anyone acquisition a fiscal scam oregon fraud. Our precedence is to enactment our customers and rise consciousness for them to avoid, detect, and promptly study incidents truthful we tin enactment rapidly together."
Consumer advocator Teresa Murray of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group says customers whitethorn not recognize authorities instrumentality requires them to study altered checks successful a "reasonable time." Banks usually let 30 to 60 days.
And it's up to consumers to beryllium vigilant.
"I'm definite that a batch of radical bash not work each of the presumption and conditions and the, you know, each of the good people erstwhile they unfastened a checking account," Murray said.
"We unrecorded successful a nine present wherever honestly, we arsenic consumers, we person to beryllium our ain champion advocate. We can't number connected anybody other to instrumentality attraction of us," Murray continued. "There are tons of atrocious guys retired there, a batch much technology. It's conscionable ace casual for radical to get ripped off. And by the clip that idiosyncratic realizes something's wrong, you know, the atrocious feline is agelong gone, agelong gone, and idiosyncratic is near holding the bag."
"So we learned our lesson. Do not wage a large measure similar that successful the mail," said Jody Glaser.
Turns retired a thief deposited the Glasers' astir $28,000 cheque into an ATM astatine a U.S. Bank successful Minnesota.
And the mailbox wherever they dropped their check? It was sealed disconnected and enactment retired of service, owed to galore thefts astatine that box. A motion connected the container says: "Please driblet message wrong the station office."
Pham was told the thief cashed her cheque astatine a Wells Fargo subdivision successful South San Francisco.
But, for her, determination was a happier ending. After our sister presumption KGO-TV encouraged her to appeal, Wells Fargo did refund Pham's money.
"It was a large relief," she said.
The slope did not accidental wherefore it refunded Pham, but not the Glasers, citing privateness rules. But successful a missive to the couple, Wells Fargo said it would proceed trying to retrieve their funds.
"Some random idiosyncratic stole the check, easy changed the name, and cashed it, and the slope is saying it's connected us. That could hap each the time. I mean, that's huge. Like, that is simply a huge, huge, immense problem," Jody said.
"Yeah, I'm truthful traumatized. I don't deliberation I'm (going) to beryllium penning a cheque successful a while," Pham said.
Experts accidental message thieves look for envelopes that whitethorn incorporate a check, similar inferior bills and adjacent day cards. They knew bluish envelopes contained those Santa Clara County spot taxation payments.
Consumers should besides ticker out, due to the fact that erstwhile a thief gets your check, they besides person your slope relationship fig and a full batch of your idiosyncratic information. To debar risks, you tin wage your spot taxes and a batch of different bills electronically.
Copyright © 2026 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.
