Westport Police See Uptick In Check Washing Cases

WESTPORT, CT — The Westport Police Department is seeing an uptick in "check washing" cases, and residents are urged to take actions to prevent this.

In a news release, Police Lt. Dave Wolf said check washing is the process of erasing the details from an already completed check to allow the checks to be rewritten.

In most instances, checks that have been put in mailboxes and are awaiting pickup by a postal employee are stolen, then the suspects alter the check by changing the payee, as well as the amount, before cashing or depositing it at a bank, Wolf said.

According to Wolf, the checks that end up being "washed" have been stolen from both residential and United States Postal Service mailboxes within Westport.

To prevent this from occurring, police recommend residents and visitors avoid placing checks they have written directly in free standing mailboxes.

"Instead, it would likely be safer to either complete the transaction electronically and, if that is not possible, mail the check from inside the post office," Wolf said in a news release. "Although inconvenient, adhering to these suggestions should reduce the occurrences of this type of crime in town."