By Staff

May 30, 2018:  We live in a world where cell phones, texting, social media, online transactions, and other modes of communication make the U.S. mail a bit less relevant in our daily lives. However, most people rely on the mail to some extent, including paying bills through the mail.

A disturbing incident involving the U.S. mail in Bronxville was brought to the attention of MyhometownBronxville this week.

A local Bronxville resident who uses a variety of different mailboxes in Bronxville told MyhometownBronville that she had mailed two letters containing checks to credit card companies in March. When she received her April statement, she noticed that the payments had not been received. Then in May, she sent two other checks that were not received. She went to her bank and learned that one of these checks had been fraudulently changed from $7.50 to $7,150.86 and it was successfully cashed. 

She reported this to the Bronxville Police Department and, while there, ran into another Bronxville resident who had the same issue with a fraudulent check. She also heard from her local bank that there were other incidents in the local area. There is an ongoing police investigation into this matter in Bronxville. 

There is also an investigation into mail theft in Yonkers. The Yonkers Police Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service issued a public safety alert on May 29 "regarding multiple incidents of mail theft that occurred early this morning 5/29/2018 at approximately 2 AM. ... If you utilized [the listed] mailboxes within the past 72 hours to send checks or checking account information, please notify your financial institutions and verify your bank accounts have not been compromised." A similar public safety alert was issued on May 9 and included a short video of mail being stolen from a mailbox. "If possible, avoid using checks; online bill payment is quicker and safer. If you are using checks, use gel-based pens (Uni-ball 207, Pilot G-2)."

Photo by S. Clifford