Police Hold Meeting on Rising Crime of Check Washing

Crooks cashed in when they stole Beverly Stockert’s electric bill, but the Rolling Hills Estates resident didn’t realize she was a victim of check washing until her Visa bill was missing too.

Check washing is the newest form of check fraud, and Stockert and other victims shared their experiences Wednesday in a Torrance police-sponsored monthly meeting of authorities and bankers who investigate financial crimes. Officials also heard from postal inspectors and research specialists who provided techniques on how to spot a falsified check and prevent fraud from occurring.

Check washers generally steal bill-payment envelopes from residential mailboxes and use chemicals to “wash” off the name of the payee and the amount, keeping the signature and filling in whatever name and amount they choose, said Torrance Det. Ed Astrada. He said the crime is on the rise, forcing those in the banking industry to come up with new ways to process and print checks.

“More and more people seem to be doing this because it’s so lucrative,” Astrada said. “The word in the criminal community seems to be that this is an easy thing to do.”

In Stockert’s neighborhood, 25 residents were victims of the crime in 1995, and many have since purchased locked mailboxes as a precaution. Neighbors also have formed a watch group, she said, to keep an eye out for strangers hanging around mailboxes.