Contact the Police and the bank.

Many years ago I received a check in the mail from my bank marked "RETURNED - CLOSED ACCOUNT". My bank indicated that they would not honor this check that I "cashed" at my bank and they were billing my account for the face value of the check plus fees. The value of the check was $700.00. I looked at the check, a personal check drawn on the account of a person whom I had never heard of, made out to me, endorsed by me (seemingly), and apparently cashed at my bank with my bank account written on the back of the check. Upon closer examination of the endorsement, the signature was close - but some key elements of my signature were missing (and I NEVER sign without those elements of penmanship - and excuse for not indicating what they are here <g>).

I called directory assistance for the person to whom the account belonged to and spoke to him. He said to contact the Police in his community as he had a box of new checks stolen from his mailbox and had filed a police report, and this was not the first check someone called him about. I contacted the police and talked to the detective in charge and he gave me the case # and told me what to do/say with my bank and to give them his contact information. He then asked me what I thought was a very strang question ... did I apply for a mortgage recently. YES!! I had indeed just applied for my first mortgage (this was back in 85). He then asked who with and I told him, and he said that was the same mortgage company as the other person who this had happened to.

Apparently someone at the mortgage company has my bank account number and my signature on the mortgage documents. They then steal blank checks. They make the checks out to people with recent mortgage papers where they have account/signature - then they go to that person's bank and cash the check as if they were me.

I contacted my bank, and they said that there were two more checks that they had mailed back to me ($850, and $560) both charged to my account, and they had THREE MORE checks that day that they were about to mail back. They asked me to come in and sign an affidavit. When I got there they had already viewed the video of the person that had cashed these checks and were able to verify it was not me.

They refunded the monies back into my account and fortunately I had not YET had any of my own checks returned NSF due to the bogus charges.

I have no idea if the bank ever recovered their money, or if the person was ever caught. I certainly hope so.

It was certainly an ordeal.

I'm really floored though by the fact that it had to be an employee of the mortgage company that was using data to steal. It's not like you can get a mortgage without this data ... so who are you going to trust?

run to your bank now., they can put an alert on that account. they will open you a new account. you can pick your number. just continue with the next number. the down side is you will have to buy new checks. at my bank we would print you some temps. they look just like checks. these services are all free at my bank. i just retired from banking. contact who the check was written to,so their bank can put an alert on that check number.

My mother-in-law had one stolen from her mailbox and the person changed the amount and who the check was made out to. She had to close the account and do all the other stuff related to getting a new account. Good luck.

What worries me is that they may be able to get the ink off and put their own information on it and then cash it for a lot more than $20. Using those identy protection ink pins help because they can not get the ink off. Don't put checks and personal information in a mail box but take it to the Post Office.
IdahoSandy

My cousin (in FL) had her credit card info stolen a few months back, not the card. She contacted the police and they never did find out who did it but think it originated from a gas station. There had been another gas station in the area and the thieves put a device on the gas pump to capture credit card info. Customers thought it was part of the gas pump.

I have heard that when you write checks to write them with a gel pen. A gel pen is harder for thieves to erase.

That is a possibility that is what happen, because we used the credit card to buy gas while there.

Where do you get the identity protection ink pens?

I have my insurance, phone & anything else I can on auto pay. Credit card goes thru bank payment. Checks are delivered to my bank for pick up.

This is true. I found out the hard way. My husband dropped a gel ink pen onto a dress shirt and the ink wicked out into a spot about 2 inches in diameter. Horrified, I went online and did a search for how to remove it. I took some scrap fabric and replicated the stain on 8 scraps so I could try all the suggestions, which ranged from bleach to drain cleaner to WD-40 to carburetor cleaner. NOTHING worked. I finally gave up when I came across a law enforcement website that recommends signing checks with a gel ink pen because the ink is impossible to wash out.