The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office is alerting residents after receiving two reports this week involving washed checks.
In one case, a resident mailed a check for more than $3,000 to pay property taxes, but the check was never received. Investigators say it was intercepted, chemically altered and made payable to someone else. In a separate report, another resident’s check was altered, with both the payee name and the amount changed to more than $8,000.
Authorities say check washing is a growing trend in which criminals steal checks from mailboxes, remove the ink using chemicals and rewrite them for higher amounts or different recipients.
The Sheriff’s Office is urging residents to take precautions, including bringing outgoing mail directly inside a post office when possible, avoiding leaving checks in residential mailboxes overnight, using black gel ink pens when writing checks and frequently monitoring bank accounts for suspicious activity.
Anyone who believes they may have been a victim of fraud is encouraged to contact the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office at 615-790-5550.
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